Halloween Horror
by nebula2
Summary: The last thing they expected was for this to be a Halloween they all would wish they could forget. *Last chapter now posted*
1. Chapter 1

**_AN: So, I wanted to make an attempt at a story for Halloween so despite the fact that I'm working on another story inspired by my story 'The Eternal Hope of Youth' I decided to write this. Hopefully I can finish by Halloween. No ghosts or ghouls per say but its set during sixth season, before, on and after the holiday and I do have talk of costumes! Hope you all enjoy!_**

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**_Friday, October 29__th__, Chicago 8 a.m._**

To most people Chicago O'Hare International Airport was controlled chaos. One of the busiest airports in the world, a lot of people tried to avoid it. Even a lot of the local travelers preferred the Midway Airport. That wasn't the case for Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan. For Morgan, O'Hare Airport meant one thing - he was home. Despite the troubling memories from childhood, Chicago would always be home to him. Would always have a special place in his heart.

Even at this time of the morning, the airport was crowded as Derek Morgan made his way through the crowd toward the baggage claim area. He had come home to share a special occasion with his mother. After all these years, and quite of few boyfriends that Derek had long ago stopped trying to keep track of, his mother had found someone that she wanted to marry. She had announced her engagement two weeks ago, and had decided that she wanted to have an engagement party to celebrate it. As she had always loved Halloween, it really came as no surprise to Derek that his mother had decided to combine that celebration with a Halloween costume party. He just hoped that she didn't expect him to dress in a costume, because if so she was going to be disappointed. He loved his mother, but that was one of the few things he wouldn't do even for her.

Derek wasn't sure what he felt about the whole situation. Desiree was completely thrilled with the whole idea of their mother getting married again. Sarah on the other hand was against it, feeling it was a betrayal to their father's memory. Derek had spent hours on the phone convincing Sarah to attend the party, to keep from hurting their mother's feeling. He could after all see Sarah's point and had to admit that on some level he felt that way a little too. At the same time, he wanted his mom to be happy and if marrying Phillip Rosendale made her happy then so be it. His father had been dead for almost thirty years now. His mother deserved to be able to live her life without judgment from her kids, didn't she?

Reaching the baggage claim area, Derek found the carousel that would soon be filled with the luggage from his flight. Finding a position near the conveyor belt, he waited with the other passengers, sitting the duffel bag and garment bag he had with him on the floor in front of him. Before long, the first of the baggage started coming into the airport. Derek kept an eye out for the bag he had brought along for the five days he planned on spending in Chicago. For once, he got lucky, the bag showing up near the beginning of the seemingly endless line of suitcases and bags.

As his black bag came past him, he plucked it from the conveyor belt. Picking up the other two items, he moved away from the carousel, his spot instantly taken by another passenger. As he walked toward an exit, he glanced around the area. His mother had said she would pick him up at the airport. Fran Morgan ended up finding her son before he spotted her.

"Derek! I'm so glad you could make it!" Fran cried, rushing toward her only son. She threw her arms around her son, hugging him with such force to throw Derek slightly off balance.

"I've missed you too, Mom," Derek told her, hugging her back. "You're looking good," he commented. Truth be told, his mother looked younger then she had when he had visited her on her birthday not quite a year ago. Her smile was brighter than he had remember seeing for a long time, and he had a feeling that was what made the difference.

"Thank-you. It's been a long time since I felt this happy," Fran replied, taking a step back and looking closely at her son. She could see a sadness in his eyes, despite the smile that was on his face. "Wish I could say the same for you. Are you okay?"

"It's been a rough couple of months," Derek replied, his mind thinking of Spicer, Elle, about JJ's departure, and Reid, who had been taking JJ's transfer harder than the rest of them. "But I came here to help you celebrate your happy news, not dwell on my problems," Derek added, forcing himself to sound cheerful.

"If you want to talk, Baby . . ."

"I know, Mom," he responded, giving her another hug.

As mother and son broke apart again, Derek became aware that another person had joined them. Just behind his mother, stood an older gentleman, about his own height. The man's black hair was peppered with gray. He was dressed in a gray business suit, the red and gold tie and gold cuff links the only thing adding color to his ensemble.

"Derek, I'd like you to meet Phillip Rosendale," Fran said, stepping back to stand next to her fiancé. "Phillip, this is my son, Derek."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Your mother has told me a lot about you," Phillip replied pleasantly, holding out his hand to Derek.

"It's good to meet you, sir," Derek said, taking the man's outstretched hand. He hadn't expected to meet his mom's fiancé as soon as he had arrived in Chicago, and hoped he was masking his surprise well enough.

"I'm sure you didn't expect to meet me so soon, but I was anxious to meet you. I managed to clear a few hours this morning and was hoping you would let me take you and your mother out to breakfast," Phillip informed him.

Derek found himself nodding. He had been hoping to get settled at his mother's house, spend some time alone with her and maybe grab a few hours of sleep, but he couldn't think of any way to politely refuse the offer. "That sounds good, sir."

"You can drop the sir bit. Phillip will be fine," Phillip told Derek, as he reached out to take one of the bags. Derek offered no protest to the gesture, and instead put his free hand around his mother as the three of them headed toward the exit of the airport.

Silently, Derek wondered if he was going to be able to resist to call his mother's finace anything but sir.

As they headed out to the waiting car, Fran started catching her son up on all the latest hometown news.

**_Quantico, VA, the same morning:_**

"What about this one?" Penelope Garcia asked, as she sat in front of Agent Emily Prentiss' computer in the bull pen area on the sixth floor of the building housing the BAU. She was helping Emily find a costume for the Halloween party that Emily was hosting the following evening. Garcia had found web sites for some local costume rental stores that they were perusing through. Unfortunately, this close to Halloween the pickings were slim.

Emily looked over her friend's shoulder at the costume that was up. It was a costume for a pirate wench that had a midriff showing top and a tight short skirt, with a split on the right side. The top didn't bother Emily none. The skirt however . . .

"I don't think so," Emily said for about the sixth time since they had started the search.

"You know if you hadn't waited until the last minute to get a costume you would have had much better pickings," Garcia commented, starting to look again for a costume in Emily's size that the store still had available.

"I know. I just got so into planning the party that I forgot about my costume. What are you going as anyway?"

"Lady Jane from Tarzan. I was hoping I could convince Derek to go as my Tarzan but alas he skipped out on us and headed out to Chicago."

"You really think you could have convinced him to dress up?" Emily asked incredulously. "I was having my doubts as to whether he would come even before his mother decided to do an engagement and Halloween party at the same time.

"I have my ways," Penelope said, a mischievous tone to her voice and a smile to match.

"I can't believe I talked Rossi into coming," Emily commented, as she watched the costumes that flashed by on the computer screen.

"Is he dressing up?"

"He wouldn't commit to that so I guess we'll see."

"Nice to see that two of my agents are so hard at work."

The sound of Agent Aaron Hotchner's voice caused both women to jump. The fact that his voice lacked any stern quality to it was the only indication to his subordinates that the comment was made in a joking manner.

"Just trying to find Emily a costume for her party, my liege," Garcia replied, not looking up from the computer screen.

"Sure you can't drop in at all tomorrow night?" Emily asked.

Hotch shook his head. "I think I really need to be with Jack this year," he told her. "Reid and I are taking him trick or treating and then we'll see what we can find on tv to watch."

"You finally did get Reid to join you?" Garcia said excitedly, finally looking up from the computer. Since JJ had left, getting Reid to do anything with them outside of work had been near impossible. He hadn't even shown any interest in Halloween so far this year, a holiday that he usually enjoyed.

"I didn't, Jack did. Little boys are so hard to say no to it seems. Jack even convinced him to dress up as a pirate with him, but that means I've got to participate too," Hotch said, holding up the garment bag he was holding, which contained the costume he had picked up from the rental place on his way in. "Speaking of Reid, where is he?"

"Haven't seen him this morning," Prentiss said. She had realized the young genius had not yet showed up. She glanced at the clock, it was just now getting to be nine o'clock but she knew Reid always tended to show up early. "He'll probably be along shortly."

Hotch nodded, though he wasn't totally convinced by Prentiss words. Reid usually called if he was running late. Hotch pulled out his phone to make sure he had missed any texts or calls, disappointed that there was nothing. He tucked his cell phone away as Garcia spoke up.

"What about this one, Em?"

Prentiss looked at the computer screen Curious, Hotch moved so he could look over her shoulder. On the screen was a picture of a "I dream of Jeannie" costume, consisting of the hat and veil, top, and pantaloons all in a bubble gum pink and red color scheme.

"It would work better if she were a blonde," Hotch commented.

"She could get a wig," Garcia suggested.

Prentiss grimaced at the thought of that. She had worn wigs for costumes before and she hated them. They were to warm, heavy and they always seemed to make her head itch. "There's also bleach," Prentiss added.

"You as a blonde?" Hotch commented, causing both Prentiss and Garcia to look back at him. "Now that I would pay to see," he told them, before turning and heading toward his office.

Prentiss watched her boss disappear into his office, part of her not believing what she had just heard. _~Is he actually daring me to bleach my hair_?~ she thought, more willing to accept that than the other thought that crossed her mind. If the comment had come from Morgan she wouldn't have blinked an eye, but Hotch?

"So, do I keep looking?" Garcia asked.

"What?" Prentiss asked, coming out of her own thoughts, as she looked back at Garcia.

"The costume?" Garcia said, waving her left hand at the screen. "Do you want me to see what else we can find or what?"

Prentiss thought about it. The costume showed her midriff, but she didn't care about that. It would be a fun costume even if she didn't do anything with her hair, after all, why couldn't a genie change her hair color at a whim? Though going blonde could get an interesting reaction from the people she knew.

Prentiss reached past Garcia and grabbed a pen and post-it pack. "What's the shop's number? I'm going to call and see if I can arrange to pick the costume up after work."

Garcia smiled as she started reading off the phone number.

* * *

In his office, Hotch found a place for the pirate's costume and sat down at his desk. He reached out for the top file in his in-box. This was a paper-work catch up day. A rare day that he and his team would be in the office the whole time. No new case to worry about - just the pile of paperwork that sat in his in-box.

Hotch's gazed moved from the in-box to the out-box which was nearly empty. "Wish it were the other way around," he muttered to himself, as he opened the file.

Instead of looking at the file though he found himself glancing out the window to his office. Garcia was still sitting a Prentiss' desk. The later agent was now on the phone and giving the topic of conversation he had left, he had a feeling the call wasn't work related. As technically their work day had now started, he knew he should probably go out and see that his two agent's got to work, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

It was Friday and not just an ordinary Friday. It was the day before the Halloween weekend. The day before he and his teammates had two whole days off.

Looking around at the other agents in the bullpen, he noticed that not many of them looked very busy yet. As if proof of the fact, a paper plane sailed across the room. Hotch hadn't seen who had thrown it and wasn't about to go try and find out. The only thing he really cared about was the fact that Reid was still nowhere to be seen.

Hotch looked down at the papers on his desk. He tried to fill out the report that was required but found himself looking out the window quite often. When Reid still hadn't shown at ten minutes after nine, Hotch pulled out his cell phone. It wasn't long before the call had been placed and the dark-haired agent was listening to the ringing of the phone. When the voice mail picked up, he resisted the urge to curse.

Five minutes later, still no word or sight of his youngest agent, Hotch got to his feet. He walked out of his office. Garcia was still at Prentiss desk, but Prentiss had now pulled the chair from the unoccupied desk of Derek Morgan over, and was sitting next to her. There was paperwork spread out on the desk and even if they weren't working, Hotch had to give them credit for at least looking like they were.

It wasn't long before Hotch had reached his destination, the office of David Rossi. The door was open and though he knocked on the door, Hotch didn't wait for a reply. At his desk, David Rossi looked up, the dry witty remark that he was about to say completely forgotten as he took in the look on his colleague's face. He couldn't stop the next thought that came to mind.

"Did Strauss find another one of my skeletons?" Rossi asked.

Hotch closed the door to the office. Without any indication that he had even heard what the older man had said, Hotch spoke. "Reid hasn't showed up yet and he's not answering his phone."

Rossi glanced at the clock on the wall. "He's only fifteen minutes late," he pointed out. "Surely everyone is entitled to be running behind from time to time."

"Sure, but he would have called and said he was running late or at least would have answered his phone."

"I think your overreacting."

"This isn't you or Morgan, who might stop off and chat with a pretty girl they passed, that we're talking about. This is Reid, who isn't just almost always on time but at least tem minutes early for everything. The guy who calls and says he's going to be late and then walks in a minute after the time he was suppose to be here."

"Can I help it if I've got an eye for beauty," Rossi quipped. The expression on Hotch's face hadn't changed at all and Rossi knew his friend was really upset about this. "What do you want to do?" he asked.

"Can you go to his apartment and make sure everything is, okay. I've just got this feeling and I'm not going to get anything done unless I know for sure."

"Sure, I'll go calling on the doctor," Rossi said getting to his feet. "When he shows up right after I leave though, don't forget to call me," he said trying to ease Hotch's worry.

"Let's keep it quiet for now," Hotch said, nodding toward the bullpen. "There is no reason to upset them unnecessarily."

"Sure thing. Anyone asks I'm taking a very early lunch," Rossi said as the two of them left the office.

As Rossi made his way toward the elevator, Hotch stood outside the office. He hoped Dave was right and he was blowing the situation way out of proportion. As the doors of the elevator blocked Rossi from view, Hotch started back to his own office. In the bullpen, Garcia and Prentiss had noticed Hotch's quick visit to Rossi's office and exchanged questioning glances.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Washington D.C._**

SSA David Rossi pulled his Ford Explorer up to the curb in front of Spencer Reid's apartment building. As he hadn't gotten a call from Hotch he assumed the youngest member of their team hadn't showed up at the office yet. Exiting the vehicle, Rossi headed toward the building

He had been to Reid's apartment a couple times, back when the kid had first got out of the hospital after being shot in the knee. They had all taken turns stopping by and checking in on him. Making sure their co-worker hadn't needed anything.

There had been a time when Rossi wouldn't have even given a second thought to dropping in on an absent co-worker at their home. A phone call, yes, but not an actual visit. It had taken some time, but Rossi had finally come to realize that the work situation he was now in was not a typical one. The members of his team weren't just co-workers, they were family. Rossi still considered himself the cranky old-grandfather who would prefer to be left alone member of the family, but he considered himself part of the family. Wasn't that why he had given in and agreed to go to Prentiss' party.

Rossi smiled to himself as he walked up the front steps of the building. He hadn't openly committed to dressing up fro the party, though he already had his costume hanging up in his house. He was sure the Wolverine costume, movie style as there was no way he was going to wear yellow spandex, he had chosen would get a few smiles from his co-workers if not chuckles. Wolverine had always been a hero of his and in a lot of ways Rossi found he could identify with him - part of a team but still a loner deep down.

Rossi entered the building. As he walked past the office on the first floor, he took note that the land lady was at her desk. With any luck, he would get an answer to his knock, but at least he knew she was here if Reid didn't answer. Reaching the elevator, he hit the up button. It wasn't long before the door to the elevators opened. He stood aside, letting a woman pushing a baby stroller off the elevator. He nodded to her and she nodded back smiling pleasantly. Behind her, a man with the build of a wrestler exited, not even casting a glance in Rossi's direction. The federal agent noted a scar on his right cheek as he walked past him.

With the elevator now empty, Rossi stepped onto the elevator. As the doors closed, he pushed the button for the fifth floor. The ride up was quick as the elevator didn't stop at any other floors and when the doors finally opened again, Rossi stepped out on Reid's floor. He walked down the hallway to the young geniuses apartment and then knocked.

He waited several minutes for an answer and when one wasn't forthcoming, he knocked again louder. "Reid, it's Rossi," he called out. Rossi stood silently in the hallway then, head tilted toward the door listening for any sounds from within the apartment. He was met with silence. For the first time since Hotch had walked into his office, Rossi started to think the BAU unit chief worries might actually be founded.

Rossi knocked one more time with the same result. Quelling the urge to force the door open, Rossi headed back to the elevator. It looked as if he was going to have a talk with the land lady after all.

Minutes later, Rossi was standing outside the lady's office. He knocked on the open door and waited for her to look up at him.

"May I help you?" Margaret Johanssen asked. A widow in her early sixties, Margaret had been running the building alone for the last five years, ever since her husband, Frank, had passed away of a heart attack. Before that, they had run it together, the apartment building supplying their income since the day Frank's father had turned it over to them as a wedding present.

"Good morning, Ms. Johanssen," Rossi said pleasantly, stepping into the office. "I'm Agent Rossi with the FBI," he told her, taking out and holding up his credentials for her to see. The lady glanced at them as Rossi continued to speak. "I'm a co-worker of one of your tenant's, Agent Dr. Spencer Reid."

"Ah, yes, Spencer. Such a nice lad. He's lived here for quite awhile now, seven or eight years maybe. Never had any trouble from him, which is more than I can say for some of the people I've leased apartments to. He isn't in any kind of trouble is he?"

"I sure hope not. See the thing is he was late for work this morning, and we can't reach him via his cell phone. Agent Reid's almost never late and we're worried. I was hoping you could let me into his apartment to make sure everything is okay."

Margaret hesitated before speaking. "I have a master key for all of the apartments, sure but I don't just go in uninvited. Even when there is work to be done in apartment I have the tenant sign a paper saying I can enter if they're not going to be home."

"I understand, Ms. Johanssen, really I do but this is an unusual circumstance. I just want to make sure my colleague is okay. Make sure he isn't sick or didn't fall or something. If he's in his apartment and hurt and you could've done something to help and you didn't, how is that going to make you feel."

Margaret sighed. "Okay, I'll let you in for a few minutes but if Spencer isn't in there we leave."

"Of course," Rossi said.

Margaret took at a small set of keys and finding a small one, opened a lock drawer on the desk. After routing around for a few minutes she took out another ring of keys. Closing the drawer she walked toward the door that Rossi was standing near.

"Come with me," the landlady told the agent as she walked past him.

The two made their way back up to the fifth floor. Before long, Rossi was once again standing in front of Reid's apartment. He stood behind Margaret Johanssen as she knocked on the apartment door. After waiting about a minute without an answer she put the key in the lock and turned it. With a click the door unlocked and Margaret Johanssen turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Margaret had every intention of stepping aside and letting the federal agent standing behind her into the apartment. The sight that greeted her eyes though froze her in place. Looking over her shoulder into the apartment, Rossi quickly saw what had scared the landlady - Reid lay unconscious on the floor behind the sofa.

Feeling as if his heart was in his throat, Rossi pushed back Margaret and entered the apartment. "Call 9-1-1," he told her as he hurried to Reid's side. He glanced quickly at the landlady as he knelt down beside Reid and was relieved to see that Margaret had taken her cell phone out.

"Reid, can you hear me?" Rossi said, hoping he would get some kind of reaction from his co-worker. There was no reaction at all to his words as Rossi took in the younger man's condition, relieved to see that Reid was still breathing.

There was blood on Reid's clothes and the floor, from a cut on each wrist. A knife laid near Reid's left hand, the blood on the blade still wet. From the amount of blood present, Rossi determined that this hadn't happened too long ago. Glancing around the room, Rossi looked for something to help him control the bleeding. On a coat rack he spotted a couple of scarves. As he got up and quickly grabbed the two items, he heard Margaret giving the address and apartment number to the dispatcher.

Rossi rushed back to Reid's side. As he wrapped the scarves first around one wrist and then the other, Rossi's years in law enforcement automatically kicked in. He noticed that the cut on the left wrist was shallower and more ragged than the one on the right wrist. He also noticed bruising on the right wrist. As he applied pressure to the wounds Margaret spoke up.

"The paramedics are on the way. The lady on the phone said a police car was responding to," Margaret told him. Rossi nodded not at all surprised by the statement. Given the situation, of course a policeman would be dispatched to investigate. "He isn't . . ." she started to ask but was unable to finish the question.

"He's still alive," Rossi said, as he noticed more blood on the floor around Reid's head. "Come give me a hand."

"What can I do?" Margaret asked, her voice shaky as she moved further into the apartment.

"I want you to come over here and apply pressure to these wrist wounds so I can check for other injuries."

Margaret moved to kneel beside Rossi. As the agent moved his hands from around Reid's wrist, she too a hold of them. Carefully, Rossi slipped his hand behind Reid's head. He felt a lump and the cold, sticky feeling of blood on his own hand.

"Dammit," Rossi said, getting to his feet. Rushing toward the kitchen he quickly grabbed a dish towel from a drawer and then hurried back. Towel in hand, Rossi slipped his hand back underneath Reid's head, trying to stop the blood seeping from the wound.

It wasn't long before he heard the sirens outside.

"Hurry up," Rossi said softly, wishing the paramedics were already in the room. The quicker Reid had proper medical attention the better his chances would be.

Kneeling there on the floor, with nothing else he could do except listen to Reid's slow breathing time seemed to move slowly for Rossi. It seemed a long time before he heard hurried footsteps in the hallway, followed by two paramedics rushing into the apartment. Both Margaret and Rossi got to their feet and moved out of the way. The landlady moved over toward the door, as Rossi stood near-by watching the paramedics work on Reid. Now that he had time to reflect on the situation, something about it didn't feel right.

"Ma'am, can you tell me what happened?"

Rossi glanced to the door and saw a local police officer standing just inside the apartment. Margaret started telling the officer about Rossi coming into her office and how they had come up to the apartment.

"Sir, do you know him?"

Rossi looked down to see one of the paramedics looking up at him. "Dr. Spencer Reid. We're both agents with the FBI."

"Does he have any near-by family?"

Rossi shook his head. "His parents live in Las Vegas. The bureau will handle notification," he said, thinking about Diana's Reid condition. The best thing would be to contact her doctor's and let them inform her in person than receiving the information over the phone.

"Any allergies that you know of."

"No," Rossi said, realizing how little he really knew about his co-worker. There was one important piece of information that he did know, that he knew he had to make sure the paramedics and doctors were aware. Squatting down next to the paramedic and lowering his voice to avoid being overheard, he addressed the medic. "Don't give him any narcotics. He had a problem with addiction a few years back."

Both paramedics nodded as they continued to work on Reid.

"Sir, can I ask you a few questions?"

Rossi looked up to see the police officer not far away. Behind him, he could see Margaret Johanssen now standing out in the hallway. A few other people, probably neighbors, were now standing with her.

Rossi stood and told the police officer about the events leading up to finding Reid. As the agent spoke, the officer scribbled notes down on the pad. At one point while he was telling his story, Margaret reentered the apartment and handed him a damp towel, he assumed one of the onlookers had provided it. It was then that he realized Reid's blood was still on his hands. After giving him the towel the landlady retreated back out into the hallway.

"Would you say Agent Reid has been depressed lately? Have you noticed any mood changes?" the police officer asked when Rossi had finished.

Having asked those same questions himself as a police officer, he knew exactly where the officer was going with them and it didn't sit well with him. As much as he wanted to be angry with the guy though, Rossi knew he was only doing his job.

"Depressed no. He's been a little distant the last few weeks. One of our team members was transferred else where awhile back so we've all been adjusting. No I don't think that event was enough to send him over the edge and no I never heard him make any suicidal statements. As I said, we've been adjusting," Rossi told him, answering questions he knew would be coming before they were actually asked.

"I'm sorry agent Rossi but I need to ask these questions, especially given the situation. From where I stand, this looks like an attempted suicide."

"Then I suggest you look harder," Rossi told the officer, no longer trying to hide the anger in his voice.

Rossi noticed that the paramedics were getting ready to transport, as they lifted the board they had secured Reid to.

"Do you want to ride with us, sir," one paramedic asked.

"I'll follow," Rossi told him. "What hospital?"

"Georgetown University Hospital."

Rossi nodded and then glanced at the officer. "If you have anymore questions, you know where I'll be," he told him before following the paramedics out of the apartment.

It wasn't until he was in his car that Rossi called Hotch and let him know what was going on. As he expected, the BAU unit chief told him that he would meet him at the hospital.

* * *

**_Chicago, Illinois:_**

Derek Morgan turned from the car and looked at the house he had grown up in. The familiar old house was the more favorable view than what was going on behind him. It wasn't that he had a problem with public displays of affection, especially as he had been involved in quite a few such incidents over the years. Besides, all they were doing was kissing. It happened everyday, in every town and city in the U.S. He had long ago lost track of how many people he had seen doing that very thing and it didn't bother him. Except for this time.

Was it because it was his mother? Morgan didn't think that was the case. He remembered seeing his parents kiss in public when he was little. Remembered a lot of his friends at that age thinking it was sick. He never had because his parents had never shied away from showing their affection for one another in front of their children. The only reason he could come up with, was it bothered him because it wasn't his father that his mother was kissing. His mother was kissing some guy he had only known for a couple of hours. On some level, that bothered him no matter how much he wanted to be happy for her.

"I'll see you tonight," Phillip told Fran.

"Six o'clock," she reminded him, stepping away from the car. Blowing her fiancé one final kiss, Fran walked around the front of the car and onto the curb.

As Phillip drove off, Fran walked toward her son. She picked up one of the bags he had placed on the front walk while he waited. "Let's get you settled, Baby," she said, looping an arm through Derek's, as he straightened up from picking up the rest of his luggage. Arm and arm, mother and son headed toward the house.

"So, what did you think of Phillip?" Fran asked, as she opened the front door of the house.

"He seems like a decent guy," Derek replied, as he stepped inside the house.

"That's all you have to say. He seems like a decent guy."

"What else do you want me to say? I've only known the guy for a couple of hours. How well can I possibly know him?"

"Better than most people," Fran replied, shooting her son a look before heading toward the stairs. "You forget, Derek Morgan, that I know what you do for a living. To most people the questions you asked over breakfast would just seem like idle curiosity but I know better than that. You were profiling Philip from the moment you laid eyes on him."

"Mom." Derek said, not sure really what to say. He wanted to deny it but he had been raised not to lie to his parents. That's not to say he had never done it growing up but it had been quite some time.

"Don't you Mom me," Fran said. "Whether I like it or not, I know where I stand with my two daughters now I'd like to know where I stand with my baby boy."

"Does it really matter what I think of the guy?" Derek asked, following his mother into his old bedroom. The room he always used when he came home. His old posters and things had long ago been removed and it didn't resemble the room he had occupied when he had lived at home. Derek still saw that room though in his mind's eye every time he walked into the place.

"It matters to me, Baby."

Derek sighed as he placed the bag and garment bag on the bed beside the duffel his mother had placed there. He turned to her and placed his hand's on her arm, looking down into her eyes as he held her at arms length.

"You want to know what I saw this morning. I saw a man who obviously cared for and respected my mother. I saw it in how he opened doors for you. How he respects your opinion. How he's trying really hard, maybe a bit to hard, to be my pal for your sake. I saw my mother look at the guy with a love in her eyes that I see every time she looks at Desiree, or Sarah or me."

"I wish I could tell you that I'm completely okay with this. That I think Phillip is the greatest guy you could ever be with. I can't do that, Mom, because I don't believe that. Dad was the greatest guy and nothing is ever going to change that fact."

"Derek, just because I love Phillip doesn't mean I love your father any less. Your father always has a special place in my heart but he's gone and I'm here. It took a long while for me to move on after your father was shot. I thought I could never love another man again, and then Phillip came along."

"I know your not trying to replace Dad. I know you deserve to have someone care for you again. I'm sure Dad would have wanted it that way. I'm just having some trouble getting use to the whole idea. Hearing about Phillip and seeing you with him, well its two different things. I can tell you this Mom, if this is what makes you happy, if Phillip makes you happy, I'm not going to stand in your way. I saw how much in love the two of you were this morning. That's something very special but don't rush me Mom. Let me get use to this whole situation at my own pace."

Fran looked up at her only son. It wasn't the unconditional support she had been hoping for but at least she was open to it. At least he was willing to accept her relationship with Phillip unlike Sarah. She reached out and place her hand on his cheek. "I think I can do that. I'll tell Phillip to stop trying so hard to be your 'pal' too. Tell him to let things come naturally."

"I love you, Mom. Nothing is ever going to change that."

Fran stepped forward and kissed her son's cheek. "Now why don't I give you time to get settled and take a nap. I'm sure you didn't get much sleep on the plane ride here."

"Flying commercial is definitely nothing at all like the team's jet," Derek admitted.

As Fran Morgan left the room, Derek turned to the luggage sitting on the bed. He picked up the garment bag and hung it up in the closet. He then turned toward the bags and started transferring his stuff from there to the dresser in the room. When he finished unpacking, the nap his mother had suggested definitely sounded like a good idea.

* * *

**Quantico, Virginia:**

Looking up from the report she had been trying to work on, Emily Prentiss looked around the room. The office that use to be JJ's still remained empty. Prentiss had gotten use to seeing it dark. Hotch's office was now dark, her boss having gone to join Rossi at the hospital. He hadn't given her or Garcia many details when he had told them where he was going. Prentiss didn't know if he was holding information back or he just didn't have the details right now. Whatever the case, she hated not knowing. Hated having to wait for a phone call. Though logically she knew she would be doing the same exact thing at the hospital, waiting for news, somehow she thought that being at the hospital would make the waiting easier to bear. In reality, she knew that wasn't really true. When she had seen Hotch leave with Strauss she knew whatever was going on wasn't good.

Prentiss turned in her chair and faced her desk again. As she did so her eyes fell on the desk beyond hers. The desk that Reid should have been occupying. With a sigh, Prentiss got to her feet. There was no way she would be able to get any work done and she really didn't want to be sitting in the bullpen alone. The dark-haired agent headed for Garcia's office, the only one of her teammates currently in the building.

As Prentiss reached the doorway of Garcia's office, she knocked lightly on the office door. The blonde technical analyst turned from the computer screens she had been staring at and faced the door.

"Feel like some company?" Prentiss asked, taking in the red, puffy eyes of her friend. Garcia had obviously been crying.

Without a word, Penelope waved a hand toward an empty chair. Prentiss stepped into the office, closing the door behind her. She crossed to the chair and sat down.

"Did Hotch call?" Garcia asked.

Prentiss shook her head.

"Reid is going to be okay," Garcia said, trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to reassure her friend.

Prentiss nodded. She was afraid to speak, not trusting herself not to break down if she did. It wasn't that she was ashamed to cry, she just didn't want to do so at the office. Didn't want to start crying and not be able to stop.

The two agents continued their waiting in silence, each taking comfort in the fact that at least they had each other.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Washington D.C., Georgetown University Hospital**_

Hotch ended the call with Prentiss back at the BAU and let the phone holding his cell phone fall to his side. He had told her only part of what the doctor had told them - that they had been able to stabilize Reid's vital signs but that the youngest member of their team was not yet out of danger. He was still unconscious and the head injury had caused a cerebral contusion. The doctor had said the CT scan had shown only minor bleeding but his condition had to be monitored closely. He had left out the doctor's comment about Reid needing to get an psychological evaluation if he regained consciousness due to the fact that it looked like an attempted suicide. That wasn't something he had wanted to tell Prentiss over the phone.

Hotch stared out the window of the small private waiting room they had been shown to. He didn't have to look behind him to know that the scene there hadn't changed. Knew that his fellow agent and supervisor were still sitting in two of the chairs in the room, facing one another. That Sergeant Raphael Morris would still be leaning against the wall near the door, more than likely shooting daggers at Agent Rossi. It was clear to the three federal agents that the man thought they were questioning the ability of him and his deputy that had arrived on scene. Refusing to accept their take on the events because for them this was personal.

~_Perhaps he's even right_,~ Hotch thought looking out the window. ~_Even I have to admit that the facts as the sergeant and the deputy had laid out for them all indicated that it was a suicide. No apparent force entry. Slit wrists with the knife that made the cuts near Reid's hands. Blood on the edge of the table, probably from Reid hitting his head on it as he lost consciousness. The change in behavior over the last few weeks. JJ's departure a possible stressor. The doctor's assessment that it appeared to be a suicide attempt._~

~_No he couldn't fault the local police for their conviction that this was a suicide attempt. Sure they would be able to close the case and move on to one of their many others but its all there. I'm not sure I don't believe it._~

It was a feeling that Hotch didn't want to admit out loud. That he felt guilty for even having which was probably why he hadn't spoken up when Rossi had voiced his objections a Sergeant Morris was reporting to Section Chief Director Erin Strauss.

Rossi had told them that something had seemed off to him when he was at the apartment. When Strauss had asked him what that was he had told her it was a feeling he had. That the scene hadn't seemed right. Why was Reid behind the couch not sitting on the couch or a least a chair? Not to mention many people who slit their wrist or any other method of attempted suicide did so in their bathroom or their bedroom. They definitely wouldn't have done it standing up and that was the only way the head injury could be explained. Next, slitting the wrists was an ineffective way of committing suicide, and vertical cuts were usually more serious cuts then when the cuts were made horizontally. Something that Reid would have mostly likely known. Rossi had also told her that he didn't understand why after everything that Reid had already overcome, he would do something like this out of the blue and that there was no note. Morris had countered that point with the statement that not everyone that committed suicide left a note.

~_Reid would probably know the exact statistics for that,_~ Hotch thought ironically.

What had surprised Hotch was that Strauss seemed to be listening intently to what Rossi was saying. That the veteran agent's points were getting through to her. Before Strauss had said anything, one way or the other, the doctor had come in to talk to them. Though he wouldn't go as far as to say it was an attempted suicide, the doctor was convinced that the cuts were at least a display of deliberate self-harm. Once again, Rossi had questions, this time directed at the doctor, a second year resident, about the wounds themselves. When Rossi had asked about possible reasons for the bruising on the right wrist the resident had played it off as not significant without really given them an explanation. It was at this point that Strauss had spoken up asking if it was possible that the bruising could be a sign of a struggle. The doctor had said he couldn't answer that.

It was at that point that Strauss had asked to see the attending doctor. It wasn't long before the attending on duty, Dr. Leon Caprelli, had joined them. He was filled in on the situation and asked to conduct his own evaluation. Trying to avoid any possible issues, Dr. Caprelli had quickly agreed to do so, which left the three federal agents and police sergeant waiting once more.

Looking away from the window, Hotch looked down at the phone he still held in his hand. He had three more calls he had to make - one to the Bennington Sanatorium to inform Diana Reid's doctors about the situation, as well as informing JJ and Morgan what had happened. There was also Reid's father. Did he contact the man or not. Since they had looked into the Riley Jenkins case, Reid had never brought up his father again. Hotch wasn't sure if he should notify Mr. Reid of the situation or not.

As he lifted his phone to call Bennington Sanatorium, Hotch decided that he would hold off on informing Mr. Reid as he was unsure if Reid would want to hear from his father or not. He wasn't going to entertain the thought that they were going to lose Reid to this. His youngest agent was going to pull through this.

It wasn't long before he was talking to Diana Reid's doctor. Hotch told him the situation and that they would keep him informed of the situation. The unit chief gave the doctor as much information that he had at this point and told him to use his own discretion on how much to tell Reid's mother.

As he ended the conversation, Hotch turned and took in the room. Morris hadn't moved. Neither had Rossi or Strauss, although Strauss was now on her own cell phone. Turning back to the window, Hotch quickly found JJ's number in his contacts and placed the call. He wasn't sure if he would get her or just her voice mail. Just when he thought the voice mail was going to pick up he heard JJ's voice.

"Agent Jarreau."

It may have been morning still, but Hotch could tell that she was having a hectic day already. He could tell it from the tone of her voice and the clipped way she had answered her phone. What he was about to tell her wasn't going to make that day any better.

"JJ, its Hotch."

"Hotch!" she said, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. Surprise that was gone by the time she spoke again. "What's wrong?" JJ asked, her voice now laced with concern.

"Are you sitting down?" Hotch asked.

There was a slight pause before JJ answered. "I am now. What's happened? Is it one of the team?"

Hotch told her, wishing this was news he was able to deliver to her personally but given the current situation it just wasn't possible. "It appears to be a failed suicide attempt but Rossi's brought up some points that may refute that."

"No. Reid wouldn't cut his wrists. I don't know what happened Hotch, but it wasn't suicide and it wasn't self-inflicted."

"JJ, I know this is hard to accept . . ."

"This isn't just about not accepting something. I've been there before, Hotch. I know what people are like before they . . . Spence wasn't there. You have your doubts, don't you. How could you Hotch?"

"JJ, you haven't been around. Reid's been distance since you left."

"I've been around him, Hotch. I know Spence has been bothered by my transfer but he's dealing with it. He's dealing with everything just fine. He's been to my house at least once a week since I left, spending time with Henry and having dinner with Will and I. This isn't right Hotch. You can't let it go without an investigation."

JJ's remarks got him thinking. He was surprised to hear that Reid had been spending that much time with JJ's family though maybe he shouldn't have been. The two youngest on the team for many years, they had instantly formed a bond. Reid was also Henry's godfather. It was only natural that Reid would've kept in touch with JJ more than he had himself. JJ's comment about him dealing with everything fine also gave him pause. Was there something more going on with Reid then he had realized. Was his distance from the team something more than just JJ's departure.

"Rossi feels the same way."

"And you?" JJ asked. She paused, waiting for Hotch's answer. She was greeted with silence. "Hotch?"

"I don't know, JJ. I just don't know," he told her, hating to admit it to her. Hotch wanted to tell her that he didn't think it was possible. That there had to be some other explanation than the wounds Reid had suffered being self-inflicted. He couldn't though. He couldn't lie to her.

There was a voice inside of him that said that maybe, after everything that Reid had been through, that it had just finally proved just too much to handle. It was a voice that he wanted to silence because the fact was that if it were true then it meant that he had failed.

"Hotch you know Spence. How can you even entertain the thought that he would do something that would hurt so many people?"

"I thought I knew Gideon to, but I didn't see him just walking away."

"Where are you at?"

"Georgetown University Hospital."

"I'll be there shortly."

"Are you going to be abele to get away?"

"I'd like to see them stop me," JJ told him.

Hotch nodded, hearing the fire in his former media liaison's voice. It was a tone that he had learned meant to stay out of her way for awhile. If her new co-workers hadn't learned what it meant by now they would soon know.

"Drive safely. Getting yourself in an accident won't accomplish anything. Perhaps you should get a hold of Will."

"I might just do that. I'll talk to you when I get there," JJ told him, ending the call.

Hotch ended the call and let his arm fall to his side. He then reached up with his left hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. He knew JJ was upset with him. Hell, Prentiss and Garcia would be too if they knew any of this. He couldn't blame her either. What kind of friend was he if he didn't believe in him. Hotch knew the next call would go much the same way the one with JJ had.

Hotch looked over his shoulder. He watched the doorway, willing the doctor to walk into the room so he could put off the last phone call. As if he heard Hotch's thoughts, Dr. Caprelli chose that moment to walk into the room.

Both Strauss and Rossi got to their feet as Dr. Caprelli walked toward them. Sergeant Morris stayed where he was, his eyes focused on the doctor but showing no inclination to walk any closer to him. With a feeling of relief, Hotch slipped the cell phone into his pocket as he moved in the direction of the doctor and his fellow FBI agents.

"What did you find, Doctor?" Director Erin Strauss asked, as Hotch joined the small group.

"As Agent Rossi said, there is bruising on the right wrist," Dr. Caprelli said, with a slight nod toward Rossi. "I ordered both an x-ray and an MRI done. While the x-ray showed no damage to the bones, the MRI indicated a minor sprain. The cut on the left wrist is ragged, and shallower than the cut on the right wrist which is clean, indicating no signs of hesitation, as well as deeper."

"So, he cut his left wrist first, after making the first cut there was less doubt and he made the second cut quicker," Morris said, still leaning against the wall.

Dr. Caprelli turned slightly to look at the police officer. "If the cuts were self-inflicted the more precise cut would be the first one. The pain from the first cut would make the gripping the knife harder, probably causing the hand to shake."

"The knife was laying near his left hand, like that was the hand that it was dropped from," Rossi said. "That would indicate that the cut to the right wrist was inflicted second."

Dr. Caprelli looked back at the federal agent. "Then in my opinion, that wound was not self-inflicted."

"Could the bruising and sprained wrist been caused by someone having a hold of Agent Reid's wrist during a struggle?" Strauss asked.

"It's entirely possible," Dr. Caprelli said.

"Can you think of any other possible causes?"

"Not off hand," Dr. Caprelli replied. "I will tell you that I'm keeping the pysch consult scheduled for when Agent Reid regains consciousness. Until a psychiatrist clears him, I'd prefer to err on the side of caution."

"Would we be able to see him?" Hotch asked.

Dr. Caprelli looked toward the unit chief. "Once we've got him settled in the room, I don't see why not. I have a nurse come and get you when that happens." The doctor turned his attention to Strauss. "Is there anything else?"

"Not at this time. Thank-you doctor," Strauss told him. As Dr. Caprelli turned and left the room, she looked at Hotch. "I'll authorize your team investigating this incident, Agent Hotchner, but I'm contacting IA and having them assign a couple of agents to assist in this investigation."

"Understood."

Strauss turned to Sergeant Morris. "Sergeant, considering that this investigation concerns a federal agent, inform your supervisor that I would appreciate it if your department allows us to take lead in this matter."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll inform the chief," Sergeant Morris said, the look on his face not coinciding with the tone of his voice.

As the police sergeant left the room, Strauss turned back to the two profilers. "I expect to receive regular reports regarding the progress of this investigation."

"Of course ma'am," Hotch told her.

"I'll be in my office if you need me," she informed him, and then she turned and exited the room, leaving only Hotch and Rossi.

"JJ is on her way here and I want to stay here for now," Hotch told Rossi, who nodded in understanding. "Go back to the BAU and pick up Prentiss then I want the two of you to go to Reid's place and see what you can find out."

"You got it," Rossi told him. He started toward the door.

"Rossi."

Rossi stopped and turned back to his friend and supervisor.

"Get someone to drive Garcia over here. I think this is where she needs to be. Also, get a hold of Kevin Lynch and let him know we might be in need of his services."

"Of course," Rossi told him.

As Rossi left the room, Hotch sat down in the chair the other agent had been occupying shortly before. He hoped Rossi and Prentiss would be able to discover something at Reid's apartment as they had almost nothing to go on at this point.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Aaron Hotchner sat in the hard plastic chair beside Spencer Reid's bedside. The latter's head was wrapped in bandages, the color of his skin almost matching the white cloth. The concentrator hummed as it delivered oxygen, via the nasal cannula, as Reid's body slowly and rhythmically breathed in and out. Beneath the soft restraints, a precaution as no one knew for sure what kind of state of mind the young profiler would be in when he awoke, more bandages encircled his wrists. The back of the left hand had an IV inserted in, which wasn't currently hooked up to anything, the blood loss during the ordeal having been restored. The right hand was now packed in ice, the nurse having just left the room from doing so, to counter the swelling from the sprain.

Reaching out, Hotch carefully took Reid's right hand in his own. The younger agent's hand was limp and there was a chill to it. Hotch was immediately reminded of the time when he had held his wife's limp, cold, lifeless body against him. Hotch let go of the hand and looked toward the slowly rising and falling chest, ensuring himself that Reid was indeed still alive.

Hotch heard footsteps approaching the doorway. Looking in that direction he saw JJ enter, her blue eyes bright from unshed tears. As she took in the sight of her friend, Hotch saw the anger arise there that he had anticipated. He had already shared a silent look with Will, who stood behind her, to not let her leave. Will did so, encircling his arm around his wife's waist as she tried to move past him.

"Now, Mon Cherie, just calm down. Don't go flying off the handle," Will told her calmly.

"Calm down! Spencer is going to panic if he wakes up and find himself restrained! They can't do that to him!" Suddenly JJ turned and looked at her former boss. "You should now that! How could you let them?"

"JJ, just hear me out," Hotch told the blonde media liaison for the Pentagon. "We don't know what happened. We have no idea what Reid is going to be like when he regains consciousness."

"He didn't do this on purpose, Hotch!" JJ insisted, a couple of tears slipping from her eyes.

"There is evidence that supports . . ."

"You shouldn't need evidence to support anything," JJ said, cutting him off. She took a step forward causing Will to lay one hand calmly on her shoulder. "He's your co-worker, your friend you should no he would never try to take his own life."

"Take his own life. What are we talking about?"

The question was voiced by Penelope Garcia who was now standing in the hallway just outside the door. Behind her, Hotch could see Agent Anderson standing against the far wall, clearly unsure of what he should do. The team's technical analyst was about as pale as Reid was behind him. Hotch cursed silently. This was not going well.

"Let's discuss this elsewhere," Hotch said, looking first at JJ and then Garcia. Hotch shifted his gaze to Will. "Can you sit with Reid. He shouldn't be alone when he comes to."

"Of course," Will replied, in his New Orleans drawl.

Will gave his wife's shoulder a slight squeeze and he moved past her and into the room. As the former New Orleans detective walked into the room, Hotch took a few steps toward JJ. "Let's go find some place private to talk," he told her, gently taking her arm.

JJ shook her arm out of his grip but remained quiet. Hotch looked toward the doorway to see a nurse hurry toward the room.

"Is there a problem here?" the nurse asked, looking from one occupant to the other, JJ's raised voice having apparently attracted her attention.

"No problem," Hotch assured her. "Is there an empty room somewhere that we could talk in private?"

"There's a conference room down the hall that I don't believe is currently being used," the nurse said. "Come with me."

Garcia and JJ started following the nurse, Hotch bringing up the rear. As he entered the hallway, Agent Anderson spoke up.

"Sir, do you need me for anything else?"

"No Anderson, you may go. Thank-you for driving Garcia over here."

"Anytime, sir," the FBI agent replied, before walking down the hallway toward the elevators he had taken up just moments before.

The nurse showed the three agents to a conference room. As they all filed inside, she flipped the sign on the outside of the door from vacant to occupied. "Just switch it back when your done," she told them.

"Thank-you," Hotch told her. As she closed the door behind her, dark-haired agent looked at the two women left in the room with him.

JJ and Garcia had both taken seats in chairs at the table. They had placed the chairs close together and were holding hands, drawing strength from one another.

"What's this talk about taking one's own life?" Garcia asked, her voice shaky. She wasn't sure she wanted the answer but she had to ask.

"The local police think that the injuries Reid suffered were self-inflicted. The doctors . . ."

"And Hotch," JJ added, a biting tone to her voice.

"The doctor's think that there is a possibility of that too though a more thorough examination has given rise to information that supports another person being involved," Hotch continued, ignoring JJ's interruption.

"Spencer wouldn't do that. He wouldn't take his own life and leave his mom like that. He made me record a message for her during that scare with the anthrax. He didn't want to leave her without her being able to hear his voice so no he wouldn't do something like that," Penelope said, her words coming quickly.

"Strauss has given us permission to investigate and we're going to get to the bottom of this," he assured them both. "Meanwhile, the doctors here need to do what they think is in the best interests of their patient."

"The restraints are not in his best interests," JJ countered. "He's going to panic or don't you remember what Hankle did to him."

"No JJ, I haven't forgotten but we don't know what happened. We don't know what Reid is going to be like when he regains consciousness. If he wakes up in a panicked state and isn't restrained he could hurt himself more or even hurt someone else," Hotch told her. He saw the two women share a look as he continued. "Now I've shared the same concerns your expressing with the doctor, and he's agreed to letting us keep someone by Reid's side 24-7 through this. As long as someone is there to reassure him that he's safe, we should be okay."

"Why?" Garcia asked softly.

Both Hotch and JJ new what she meant by the question. Garcia was asking why someone would possibly want to harm Reid. A question that both JJ and Hotch were thinking themselves.

"I plan on finding out," Hotch replied, as JJ put an arm around Garcia's shoulders and gave her a hug.

"Garcia, why don't you stay here at the hospital with Reid. I'm going to go give Rossi and Prentiss a hand at . . . ," he left the sentence fade off as he realized he was about to refer to Reid's apartment as a crime scene. He didn't think the tech could handle that reference right then. "JJ I don't know if you have to . . ."

"I'm staying right here with Spence and if the Pentagon doesn't like it, I'll tell them exactly where they can go."

Hotch nodded, have expected that answer. As the two women got to their feet, Hotch addressed JJ. "If there is any change in his condition, call me."

JJ nodded. One arm still around Garcia's shoulders, the two started for the door again. Just before opening the door, Garcia turned back to Hotch.

"Sir, does Morgan know yet?"

"I'm going to call him right now," he told her.

Garcia nodded and then let JJ lead her from the room. The two women walked down the hallway to their friend's room. As they entered, Will stood from the chair he had been sitting in. The two women made their way over toward the bed. Will motioned for Garcia, who looked as if she was about to collapse, to take a seat. The red-head did so, carefully reaching out for Reid's hand as she did so.

Meanwhile, JJ had gone to the other side of the bed. While they were in the conference room, the ice had been removed. JJ gently placed her hand on top of Reid's as she stood next to the bed. She reached out and placed her other hand against her friend's cheek.

"Spence, you're not alone," JJ told him softly. "I'm here and so is Garcia and Will. The others are out looking for whoever did this."

She wanted to say more. Wanted to keep speaking in case Spencer really could hear her voice, but her voice broke and she couldn't continue. JJ felt a hand on her shoulder, and didn't need to look back to know that Will was behind her or that there was only love and concern in his eyes. JJ moved her hand from Spencer's cheek and left it come to rest on the top of his head, her fingers running gently through the hair that was visible above the sweatband style bandage that encircled his head.

* * *

_**Chicago, Illinois:**_

Derek Morgan sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at the cell phone in his hand. He was resisting the urge to throw the offending object against the wall. The only thing that action would accomplish is him needing to buy a new phone. Instead, he tossed the thing on the bed beside him. Resting both elbows on his knees, he leaned forward and interlaced his fingers loosely behind his neck.

This couldn't be happening. He had been so happy only a few hours ago, even with meeting his mom's fiancé. It was going to be an adjustment for him to get use to his mother being with some guy other than his father, but he had seen how happy they were together. He had been looking forward to celebrating that happiness with them. That was before his phone has rang.

As soon as he had seen Hotch's name and number on the screen, he had known the news wouldn't be good. The BAU unit chief wouldn't have disturbed him while he was visiting his family unless it was absolutely necessarily. Nothing could have prepared him for what Hotch had told him.

Now Morgan was torn as to what he should do. Hotch had assured him that Rossi, Prentiss, and himself could handle the investigation and Morgan was sure they could. He also knew that between Garcia and JJ, someone would be there for Reid. Hotch had also assured him that Reid's condition, though still serious, was stable. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should be there for him.

At the same time, his mom was celebrating an important event in her life. She wanted her son here with her and he wanted to celebrate with her. To share this occasion with her. To show his support. Given the situation back in Washington though, he knew that putting on a happy face was going to be difficult.

With a sigh, he got to his feet. Leaving the bedroom, he headed for the steps and went downstairs. He found his mother in the kitchen, cooking some food for the party the following evening.

Hearing his footsteps, Fran looked over her shoulder as Derek entered the room.

"I would have thought you would have slept . . ."

Fran let the thought drift off as she took in the look on her son's face. She knew instantly that something was wrong.

"What is it?" she asked, putting the spoon down in the bowl of the mixture she had been stuffing the mushrooms with.

"Hotch just called. Reid is in the hospital. First indications was that it was a suicide attempt but Hotch says they're investigating for signs of foul play," he told her, clenching his fists at his sides.

"Oh, Baby. I'm so sorry," she told him, quickly crossing the kitchen to her only son.

Fran Morgan wrapped her arms around her son, letting her head rest against his chest. It wasn't long, before Morgan had wrapped his own arms around his mother, taking comfort from her embrace.

"You need to go back. We'll get you on the first possible flight back to Virginia," she told him.

"It's not necessary. The others are there and your party . . ."

Fran shifted in her son's arms, backing up a bit so that she could look up at him. She placed a hand on both of Derek's cheeks as she spoke to him. "My party is not as important as you being there for your friend. I know you've said that there's been some distance between the two of you of late, but that doesn't mean you don't care about him. Half the stuff you tell me in your letters and phone calls are about him. As much as I would like you to be here for my party, your place right now is by Reid's side. Do you understand me?"

Morgan nodded, swallowing hard as tears threatened to fall. Then, because he knew there was no one else he could ever make this admission to, he gave voice to the feelings churning within him.

"I can't lose him, Mom. He and Garcia are my two best friends. Reid is more than just a friend though, he my little brother. The thought of something happening to him is just as scary as the thought of losing you or Sarah or Desiree. The thought that something could happen to him because of an order I gave was the hardest thing to deal with while I was acting unit chief. I tried to protect myself from that by keeping some distance between us but I think I damaged our friendship permanently by doing so."

"The friendship might be damaged, Baby, but not permanently. Not if it still means something to the both of you. It may take time but you two will get it right again and the first step of that is going home now to see him through this. Don't worry about me. I've got family and friends to celebrate with, and as long as I've got your blessing, then you'll be with me in spirit tomorrow night. Probably more with me then if you were here worrying about Reid."

"I love you, Mom," he told her as he felt some tears rolling down his face.

With the soft, loving touch of a mother, Fran reached up and wiped the tears from her son's face.

"I love you too, Derek."

Mother and son stood in silence for a few moments, both looking in one another's eyes. The son drawing strength from his mother. It was finally Fran who broke the silence.

"Go, get your things together and I'll call the airport and see what the earliest flight they can get you on is," Fran told him, kissing his cheek.

Derek nodded, for once more than happy to let someone else take control. At least for a little while.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: First off - thanks to those of you who have taken time to review in any chapters. It's much appreciated! Second - I'm a little nervous about this chapter - this is my first attempt as having any of the team analyze a crime scene in any of my stories and I hope I have done a decent job. I'm hoping for believable seeing as perfectly accurate is way to much to ask. Hope you all continue enjoying the story!**

* * *

_**Washington, D.C.:**_

For the third time that day, Rossi approached Reid's apartment. There was now crime scene tape across the door. The police officer that had first responded to the call was standing in the hallway.

"Our crime scene unit has been through the apartment and didn't turn up anything," the deputy said, as the two federal agents approached. "Nothing seems out of place. There are no apparent signs of forced entry and only one set of prints were found on the knife - Agent Reid's."

"All the same, we'll take our own look around if you don't mind officer," Rossi paused as he looked at the name of the officer's shirt, "Crenshaw."

With a shrug of his shoulders, Officer Crenshaw pulled down the crime scene tape from one side of the doorway, letting it hand from the other side. Putting a key into the doorknob, he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"I'll wait out here, if you don't mind. If you need me, let me know."

"We will," Rossi said, walking past the officer and into his co-worker's apartment for the second time that day.

Yellow markers now lay where Reid had laid on the floor, and where the knife had been lying next to him. There was still blood on the floor and the edge of the table and it didn't take much for Rossi to be able to see the scene he had walked into hours before.

"I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to come visit him again after this," Prentiss said, bringing Rossi out of his own thoughts.

"I know what you mean," Rossi said, tearing his eyes away from the yellow markers to look at Prentiss who stood just behind him. The female agent's pale skin had a slight greenish hue to it and Rossi had a feeling whatever she had eaten for breakfast wasn't sitting too well with her right about now. "Are you going to be okay doing this? It's perfectly fine if you can't."

"No, I'll be fine," Prentiss informed him. If someone had done this to Reid then she wanted to catch this guy. Until Reid could provide them with information this was the only chance they had to catch this guy. "Reid didn't have his gun on him when you found him, did he?"

"No. So either the gun is here or the UnSub left with it. Do you know where Reid keeps his service weapon?"

"Yes," Prentiss answered without hesitation, having seen Reid put it away one evening she and Garcia had come home with him after work so the three of them could eat dinner together. It was one of the few times she had come to Reid's apartment. Taking out gloves and slipping them on as she walked, Prentiss moved past Rossi toward the bedroom. "The first thing Reid always does when he comes home is put away his weapon," Emily said, as she entered the bedroom.

She walked over to the night stand beside the bed and pulled on the top drawer. The drawer was still locked. Rossi walked in silence as the female agent pulled out a bobby pin and deftly picked the lock. Prentiss then pulled the drawer opened. Reid's service weapon lay inside the drawer.

"So he wasn't armed at the time," Prentiss commented, looking at Rossi.

"There are no signs of forced entry at the door," Rossi said, talking out loud. "And I doubt that Reid would have opened the door to someone he didn't know, so that rules out someone being able to muscle there way into the apartment."

"Unless it was someone Reid knew," Prentiss countered.

"I know the kid can be annoying at times but can you think of anyone Reid knows enough to open a door to that would want to try to kill the kid?"

Prentiss nodded, conceding the point.

"Reid didn't have his weapon with him yet, so he wasn't leaving for work when the UnSub entered. So, the guy entered the apartment someway other than the door, which leaves the windows," Rossi said, walking toward the one window in the bedroom.

The window was shut and appeared to be locked. Looking closely though, Rossi could tell that the locks had been broken. "It looks as if someone was able to force the window open from the outside with brute strength," the elder agent said as he easily pushed the window up, letting the cool October air come into the apartment.

"And if the guy was that strong, he could easily have overpowered Reid," Prentiss said, joining Rossi at the window.

The two agents leaned out the window taking in the scene outside. The bedroom window was on the backside of the building. Below, a small grassy area was fenced in. There was a swing and a sandbox, as well as a small storage shed in the yard. Beyond the yard was the back of another apartment building on the next street over. The other building was only partially visible due to two large pine trees growing near the fence.

"Well, there is some semblance of privacy back here," Prentiss commented.

Rossi nodded looking to his left and his right. On the left was the nearby fire escape. He looked down and saw a short ledge running along the building below the windows. Though it would be tricky, the ledge was wide enough that someone with good balance could stand on it.

Rossi became of movement beside him. Looking to his left he saw Prentiss climbing out the window.

"What are you doing?"

"There's something stuck on the fire escape. I want to see what it is."

"Be careful," Rossi said, worry evident in his voice.

"I plan on it," Prentiss told him in a tight voice.

She placed one foot on the ledge outside, and gripping the window sill tightly she swung her other foot on the ledge. She inched over to the fire escape keeping hold of the window as she did so. Reaching the edge of the window she held on with her left hand, stayed as flat against the building as she could, and kept edging toward the metal rails of the escape. Looking to her right, she could see the item that had caught her attention. She reached out and tried to get a hold of it. Prentiss was relieved to find she could reach it while keeping her grip on the window. Snagging it, she edge back toward the window and was helped back inside by Rossi.

"Well, it would be possible to get from the fire escape to this window though difficult," Prentiss said. She looked down at the item she had retrieved. It looked to be a part of a sweatshirt, grey in color, with part of an emblem on it in blue."The UnSub could have climbed over the rail of the fire escape and toward the window. This could have gotten snagged while he was doing it."

Rossi nodded. "Risky, but possible," he mused. "So the UnSub comes in through the window. Reid isn't in the bedroom at the time. The bedroom only has one door so now, the UnSub is between Reid and the gun," Rossi said as he walked toward the bedroom door. He stood in the hallway and looked around the rest of the apartment. He could see the living room and dining area, as well as the small kitchen across the counter that separated it from the dinning area.

"I'm bigger and stronger than my victim and I have a weapon- maybe the knife that was left. I would say Reid would've probably be in the kitchen as if he was in the living room he could have presumably gotten to the front door before the UnSub could stop him."

Rossi stepped into the living room and then turned to Prentiss. "So, we've got an armed intruder in between him and the exit. What would Reid do?"

"He would try talking his way out. We've already figured out that the guy had to be strong enough and athletic enough to force a window while balancing on that ledge. Reid isn't going to try to overpower him."

"Right," Rossi agreed. He took a few steps toward the kitchen area. "So if Reid's over in that area of the apartment," he said waving his right hand, "then how did Reid end up over there without any signs of a struggle," Rossi said, pointing toward the yellow markers which were closer to the apartment's door.

"This probably didn't happen quickly," Prentiss ventured. "The UnSub wanted something. Something that allowed Reid to be able to keep him talking. To want to talk. For some reason, that conversation lead them to this spot in the apartment," she said, walking to stand next to the yellow markers. She glanced around and then looked back at Rossi. "Why?"

Rossi was silent for the moment, contemplating the possibilities. What was in that area of the apartment that the UnSub could have possibly been interested in? As Rossi looked around, he noticed Prentiss was standing right in front of a desk. It was a desk that had a cover that pushed back and into the desk. The cover was currently closed. On the top of the desk was a lamp, a picture of Reid with his mother, and a newton's cradle.

Rossi crossed over to the desk and pushed it open. As he expected the desk was neatly organized.

"Check the drawers," Rossi told Prentiss, as he looked over the things on the desk.

"This feels wrong," she stated as she reached for the top drawer on the side closest to her.

"Just remember we're trying to help him," Rossi told her, his eyes falling on the one item that seemed out of place on the otherwise neat desk top. An address book was sitting opened on the desk top, slightly askew from being parallel with the long axis of the desk. "Why does a person with an eidetic memory need an address book?" Rossi questioned out loud.

"Because he doesn't always remember something he hears but anything he reads he never forgets," Hotch said, answering Rossi's question.

Rossi jumped slightly at the sound of his boss' voice as he didn't expect to hear it. Rossi looked in that direction to see Hotch walking into the apartment.

"Reid?"

"No change. JJ, Will and Garcia are there with him. Learn anything so far?"

"Quite a bit actually," Rossi told him, and then glanced back down at the address book. "Once he wrote an address down, he wouldn't need to reference it again though, right?"

"Probably not," Hotch asked.

"Then why is this address book not only opened but it has at least one page ripped out of it." Rossi picked the address book and skimmed through it. "Correction two pages. It's missing a page for the J's and one for the M's."

"So the UnSub wasn't interested so much in Reid as to getting to people through Reid," Hotch speculated. He reached out for the address book. "He's got all of our contact information in here except for Morgan's. Presumably it was on the page that was ripped out."

"JJ's,?" Rossi asked, thinking of the other letter that Rossi had said the page was missing from.

Hotch flipped back through the book. On the page with the tab labeled with a j, JJ's address and phone numbers were the first and only entry. "It's here. It's the second J page that is missing but I don't know who it could have been on that page."

"And why didn't he write it under JJ's information instead of the next page?" Rossi asked.

Hotch shook his head.

"What if the missing information is for Jason Gideon," Prentiss ventured.

Hotch and Rossi turned to look at their colleague who was holding three envelopes. As she held the envelopes for the to see, they saw that in the place of the return address was the name J. Gideon but no actual address. They were postmarked from Oklahoma all within the last couple of months.

_~"He's dealing with everything fine."~_

Hotch recalled JJ's words over the phone. Was this part of what she had been talking about? Did she know Reid was back in touch with Gideon?

"So, we've got an UnSub who attacks Reid, to get contact information for Morgan and Gideon? Why? What could he possibly want with the two of them? Why go through Reid? If the UnSub tracked Reid down wouldn't he have just as easily tracked down the other two."

"Morgan possibly, but not Gideon. None of us even know how to get a hold of him, except apparently Reid," Prentiss said, holding the letters. "Should we look at them?"

Hotch shook his head. "Not yet. Searching his apartment for clues is one thing but reading those letters is invading a bit too much at this point."

Prentiss nodded and put the envelopes back in the drawer she had found them in.

"So, our UnSub came looking for contact information. He found it and then he attacks Reid and leaves him for dead but not dead. Why not just kill him outright?" Hotch asked.

"If it appeared to be a homicide, you've just killed a federal agent, any one with any brain cells are going to know they're going to be hunted extensively. He wanted that information for some reason and you don't want to be looking over your shoulder while trying to carry out that task. If it looks like a suicide, you've bought yourself some time. Except he didn't do it clean enough to pull off a suicide attempt," Rossi said.

"Making someone actually cut their own wrists is going to be nearly impossible for persuasion, but I'm bigger than my victim." Rossi motioned for Prentiss to turn around. "They found Reid's finger prints on the knife which means he was holding the knife. So, if I get behind my victim like this," Rossi said, positioning himself behind Prentiss. He reached around and grabbed both of Prentiss wrists. "Now I'm going to guide one hand to make the cut, but the victim is cooperative. He's resisting."

"Hence the bruising on the one hand and the ragged cut," Hotch said. "But his victim was struggling to much to move the knife to the other hand. Either in the struggle or on purpose, Reid was knocked unconscious by his head hitting the table. After that, the second cut was easy to do. He leaves the knife looking as if it fell out of his hand, and exits the apartment."

"Okay, so now that we've figure this out where do we go from here?" Prentiss asked, turning to face her two colleagues as Rossi let go of her.

"Well we see if the guys at the crime lab can figure out what that piece of material came from that you found. Right now that is our only link to the UnSub," Rossi said.

"We also need to look at back cases. If this guy is after both Gideon and Morgan it could be related to an old case," Hotch said. "We can probably limit it to cases after Reid join the BAU, because whether the UnSub was after Reid in particular or not, he did know that he would be able to get to both Gideon and Morgan through Reid."

"Does Morgan know what is happening? Is he coming back here?"

"I informed him about Reid. He didn't say anything about coming back," Hotch said. "I'll call him again, try to convince him to stay in Chicago. If this UnSub is looking for him, he could be watching Morgan's house. Out of town is the safest place for him right now."

"What about Gideon? We need to try to track him down to? Warn him." Prentiss said.

"Reid's the only one who knows how to contact him. Until Reid regains consciousness we've got nothing to go on," Rossi pointed out.

"We've got the postmark. It's the same for all three letters which means he's staying in one area," Prentiss pointed out.

Hotch nodded. "Copy the postmark information down, we'll have Kevin Lynch see if he can find anything out using it," he told her. Prentiss nodded. "The two of you head back to the BAU and get things going there. I'll join you shortly."

"Where are you going?" Rossi asked.

"I need to have another conversation with JJ," Hotch told him.

The three FBI agents headed for the door. Officer Crenshaw was still standing outside the doorway.

"Are you finished?" he asked as the three entered the hallway.

"Yes, and we found out a few more things that your crime scene techs missed," Rossi said, "Including a piece of evidence they seemed to have missed."

Emily held up the bag containing the piece of material she had retrieved from the fire escape. "And as for signs of forced entry, you guys missed the bedroom window. Locks have been broken on it."

Crenshaw started at the two federal officers, not quite sure what to say. Not even sure it was wise to say anything. Sergeant Morris had clearly not been happy about working with the feds and it was becoming clear to Crenshaw that these two agents felt the same way as his supervisor.

"We'll be in touch if we need anything else. Thank-you for you time," Hotch told the police officer, knowing he should probably say something about his two agent's behavior but no wanting to. He could completely understand where the two of them were coming from.

The officer nodded, as he pulled and locked the door. As he started replacing the crime scene tape, the three federal agents headed for the elevator.

Hotch took out his cell phone and placed another call to Morgan. He got the agent's voice mail. "Morgan, its Hotch. I need you to call me as soon as you get this message," he said, into the phone. He ended the call and put the phone away. He hoped it wouldn't be long before Morgan called him.

One agent was in the hospital and another one was a possible target. Another possible target was a former colleague and friend he hadn't heard from in three years. This was definitely not how he expected his Halloween to go. It was hard to believe that only hours ago he had been talking about Halloween costumes and plans with Prentiss and Garcia.

~_And I've still got to find a way to break the news to Jack that Reid won't be going trick-or-treating with us_,~ Hotch thought, thinking about his son. He didn't even want to contemplate telling Jack that he wouldn't be taking him. This was the first Halloween since Haley's death. No matter what, he had to find a way to free up those few hours tomorrow evening. He just had to.

* * *

_**O'Hare International Airport, Chicago Illinois:**_

"Call me when you land out there," Fran Morgan told her son, as the two hugged good-bye one last time at the airport.

"I will," Derek promised her, taking a step back and readjusting the strap of his carry-on. "I'll see you for birthday if I can't get back out before that," he told her, disappointed that his time at home had been disrupted but knew he was doing the right thing. "I'm going to expect getting sent pictures. Have Desiree give you a hand if you need help."

"I might just have Desiree send them to you," Fran told him, with a smile.

"Just as long as I get pictures. Tell Phillip I'll catch up with him next time he's in Chicago."

"I will. Call your sisters this evening. They're going to be sorry they missed you."

"I wish I could have seen them myself."

"They'll understand," Fran said quickly, feeling guilty about putting any more of a burden on her son at a time like this. "We all understand. You need to be there right now. Just keep yourself safe."

Derek nodded and then after kissing his mother's cheek, he headed for the security gate. Reaching it, he turned back for one last glimpse of his mother. Fran was still standing where he had left her. She smiled and blew him a kiss. Derek waved and then turned back to the security gate.

Moments later he was through security and walking through the airport to the gate where his flight was departing from. He glanced down at his watch. He had twenty minutes until the flight was due to take off. Twenty minutes with nothing to do but sit and think and worry.

Reaching the gate, he found an empty chair away from those already gathered. Sitting down, he took his phone off the clip and looked down at it. He had a missed call and a voice message.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Hotch found an empty spot in the parking lot of the hospital and parked his car. As he walked toward the building he noticed the media had gathered outside the main entrance. He was about to go another way, when he was spotted by one of the reporters. Having dealt with the local media many of times during the years, Agent Aaron Hotchner was recognized immediately.

"Can you confirm the report that an FBI agent is currently being treated for life threatening injuries here a Georgetown University Hospital?" the reporter, who had first spotted Hotch, asked.

"Reports say the agent attempted to commit suicide," another reporter said.

"I have no comment at this time," Agent Aaron Hotchner said, not looking at any of the reporters or there camera crews as he made his was thorough the group and toward the hospital entrance.

"Does your presence here at the hospital mean that the FBI agent who attempted suicide is a member of the BAU?" yet a third reporter asked.

"No comment," Hotch said again.

As he broke through the other side of the group, two hospital security guards stepped forward to keep the media away from the hospital entrance. Approaching the doors, they slid open, allowing Hotch to escape the media sharks outside. He'd have to remember not to use the main entrance from here on out.

Apparently there had been a leak regarding the injuries to Reid. He shouldn't have been surprised, as Rossi had reported several of Reid's neighbors had been hanging about when the paramedics were working on them. Couple that with the number of people in the hospital itself, and it was no wonder the media had caught wind of the story.

~_I wonder if Strauss is aware of the media situation here_,~ Hotch wondered as he stepped onto the nearest elevator. ~_The FBI should probably make a statement shortly concerning the incident but something like this is Strauss' call_,~ he thought as he punched the button for the desired floor.

By the time the doors had opened, Hotch had Strauss on the phone.

"No I wasn't aware that the media had gotten a hold of the story, yet," Strauss replied when Hotch had informed her of the media mob he had just walked through. "Your right we do need to get an official statement out there. Perhaps you should handle it. Your on scene and Agent Reid is a member of your team."

There was a pause in the conversation. When Hotch didn't immediately agreed to it, Strauss spoke up again. "I can get someone else to handle it, if you don't think your up to it."

"No, I'll handle it," Hotch told her. "I'm here. We might as well get the situation under control."

"Did you find anything out at the crime scene?"

"Agent Rossi is on his way back to the BAU. He can fill you in on what he and Agent Prentiss found."

"Very well. I'll have Agent Jackson from IA join us when Agent Rossi gives his report. Jackson is going to working with your team on this case. Someone needs to involved that doesn't have a personal involvement in it."

"With all do respect Director, this is an attack against an FBI agent, possibly more than one. The whole bureau should be taking it as a personal attack."

"That's no what I meant."

"I know exactly what you meant. No if you'll excuse me ma'am, I've got work to do."

With that said, he ended his call. By this time he was standing outside of Reid's room. He ended the call and stepped into the room and was immediately standing next to Will, who had been leaning against the wall near the door.

"Any change?" Hotch asked, after he and the former New Orleans detective had exchanged greetings.

"Not really," Will said softly, as they looked at the two women who were sitting in chairs on either side of the bed. Garcia had a book opened on her lap and was reading out loud. As Will continued to speak, the two men watched as JJ got to her feet and carefully removed, flipped and replace the pillow under Reid's head. "He showed signs of restlessness not long after you left, JJ talked to him and it seemed to calm him down. That's when Penelope got the idea of reading aloud to him."

Hotch nodded as the two listened for a few minutes to Garcia's voice as she read from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Cantebury Tales. Hotch noticed the vase of flowers and the teddy bear who had a couple of mylar balloons tied to his one arm, sitting on the bedside stand now. He had no doubt that Garcia had placed them there, her attempt at bringing a little cheer into the otherwise somber room.

"Did you guys find any clues as to who did this?" Will asked.

"A few, though I don't feel any closer to catching the guy. If only . . ." Hotch let the sentence trail off, but Will knew where he had been going with it. If Reid was awake and could give them information about the guy and what had transpired they would probably make faster progress.

Hearing their whispered voices, JJ glanced in their directions. Hotch motioned to her and reluctantly, JJ left Reid's side and walked toward them. The movement caused Garcia to glance up from the book she was reading from. The pause was only momentary as she soon went back to reading the book.

"Please tell me you figured out who did this," JJ asked, knowing that she wasn't going to get an affirmative answer from her former boss. She'd been involved in too many cases over the years to be hopeful things could be wrapped up this quickly.

"We've got some leads to work with," Hotch told her. "JJ, I need to speak with you privately for a few moments."

"I don't want to leave, Spence."

"Garcia's here," Hotch told her. "Just a few moments."

JJ nodded and reluctantly followed Hotch. After a quick inquiry with a nurse, Hotch and JJ were back in the conference room they had occupied earlier.

"JJ, did you know that Reid was in contact with Gideon again."

"How did you find that out?"

"We found the letters from him at Reid's apartment," Hotch told her, purposely leaving Prentiss name out of it. There was no need to attribute the action to anyone person. They had done what they needed to do to find information.

"You searched his apartment!"

"JJ, we had to. How else are we suppose to get any information to help us figure out what happened."

"This is all so easy for you isn't it. Just another case!"

Hotch sighed. He knew his former media liaison was upset by what happened. They all were. However, he was really getting tired of her treating him as the bad guy. "Nothing about this is easy, JJ. I'm not the bad guy in this. I'm trying to find out what happened. Why one of my agents is lying in the hospital and that means taking all the same steps we would if this was a victim with no connection to us. So, I ask you again, did you know Reid was in contact with Gideon."

"I'm not answering that," JJ said, with a shake of her head. "I don't see what this has to do with anything."

JJ's refusal to answer the question gave Hotch the information he needed. "There were two pages missing from Reid's address book. They were torn out and we believe it was done by whoever attacked him. One page was in the M section and the other the J section, as your contact information is still there, we need to figure out whose information was on that missing page. Did Reid have contact information for Gideon?"

Before JJ even had a chance to answer, Hotch's cell phone rang. Taking it out, Hotch glanced at the screen. "I need to take this," he told JJ, as he hit the button to answer the call. "Hotchner," he said, putting the phone up to his ear.

"Hotch, I got your message. What's going on? Is it Reid?" Even over the phone, Hotch could hear the worry in Morgan's voice and he realized he shouldn't have anticipated where Morgan's thoughts would immediately go when he had heard Hotch's message.

"Reid's condition is unchanged," Hotch told him, hearing a sigh of relief coming from Morgan.

"Then what's going on?"

"Morgan I think at this time its best that you stay in Chicago. Our investigation of Reid's apartment leaves us to believe that you might be a target of the UnSub."

"Are you saying he attacked Reid to get to me?"

"No. Not necessarily. For all we know, Reid was one of his intended targets all along. We have no clue as to why this UnSub is doing what he's doing. However, there is a page in the M section of Reid's address book missing and you are the only member of the team's whose contact information is not in there. For now, don't make any plans to come back. Stay in Chicago and let us handle this out here."

"I'm already at the airport, Hotch. My flight will be boarding in a few minutes and if you think I'm going to stay out here and hide out, then you don't know me very well."

It was Hotch's turn to sigh. It wasn't a sigh of relief though but one of frustration. He knew it would be a waste of breath to try and change Morgan's mind. "What time is your flight scheduled to land?"

"Six twenty-five, your time," Morgan replied.

"I'll meet you at the airport. Under no circumstances do I want you to go home until we catch this guy. It isn't safe. I'm also going to talk to Strauss about getting a couple of agents to watch your back while this is going on."

"I don't need protection."

"I'm not compromising on this point, Morgan. There's evidence suggestion you are a possible target and I'm not taking any chances. I've already got one agent in the hospital and I'm not about to let another agent end up there if I can help it. The only choice you have in this matter is if you want agent's tailing you discreetly or you want to be placed in protective custody and taken to a safe house."

"Fine. I'll see you when my flight lands then," Morgan conceded before ending the call.

Hotch ended the call to find JJ looking at him with fear and concern in her eyes.

"You really think Morgan is in danger?"

"Yes, as well as Gideon, which is why if you have any information that might help us get in touch with Jason you need to share it with us, no matter what confidences you might be breaking by telling me."

"Reid confided in me that he had received letter from Gideon after he got the second one. He was sure if he wanted to write him back or not. Gideon leaving really hurt Spence and the time that has passed hasn't lessen that pain any. He finally did, write him back, I know that much. I'm not sure where Gideon is or how to get in touch with him though."

Hotch nodded. "Let's hope Lynch can come up with something using the postmark on the letters. Meanwhile I need to figure out what to say to the media about this situation."

"Your making a statement already."

"We don't have a choice. The media is already out front of the hospital. We need to make an official statement to keep rumors from getting out of hand."

"Want some help?" JJ offered. "I can't really go out there and make the statement for you this time but I can help you prepare."

"I'd appreciate that," Hotch told her. "Start thinking while I go see if I can scrounge up some paper," he said, heading toward the door to the conference room. It didn't take him long to complete the task, a quick conversation with a nurse at the closest nurses station, producing a couple pieces of notebook paper.

Walking into the conference room, Hotch found it empty. He was about to go looking for JJ, when the door opened and the blonde walked in. Seeing Hotch she started talking.

"After you left, I got to thinking that if Gideon had given Spence a contact number it might be stored in his phone though probably not under Gideon's name," JJ said, holding up a cell phone.

"Think you would recognize what name Reid might put the number under if he had it?"

"I know Spence well enough, that I think I could figure it out," JJ said, taking a seat at the table. She turned the phone on to find it password protected. JJ thought for a moment, trying to figure out what number Reid might possibly use for the password. " I feel like a creep doing this," JJ said, as she entered Spencer's birth date followed by his mothers. Both numbers were rejected.

"We're doing this to help people we care about," Hotch reminded her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

JJ nodded, as she entered the date she had joined the BAU. The phone unlocked, showing the menu. Moments later she was scrolling through Reid's short list of contacts. As soon as she saw the name she knew she had found what she was looking for.

"Here it is," she told Hotch.

"Are you sure?"

JJ nodded. "Joe Gibbs was the owner of the Washington Redskins when Spence and I went to the game and the initials are the same as Gideon's." The blonde reached out for a piece of the paper which Hotch had placed on the table. She hurriedly wrote down the number and handed the paper back to Hotch. "Why don't you go call him and by the time you come back I'll have an official statement all ready for you to give to the media."

Hotch nodded. "I've missed you, JJ."

JJ just nodded, feeling a pang inside of her. Sure she had adjusted to her new job. Was doing well and found it challenging. It wasn't the same though. She would gladly give up the regular hours, the extra time with Will and Henry, and the added prestige to be back with her family at the BAU.

* * *

_**Gracemont, Oklahoma:**_

The afternoon was a pleasant sixty-three degrees, with the sun disappearing only occasionally behind the white fluffy clouds that rolled lazily through the blue sky above. At the Tumbleweed Plant Nursery, preparations were going on for the Halloween Celebration they would be holding the following day. In lieu of taking their kids door to door trick or treating, the twelve employees of the nursery had decided to hold a Halloween Party for the kids, complete with a haunted house, and roasting marshmallows around a fire, and a scary story telling session for the older ones. The kids had been told to invite their friends, and what was originally going to be a small party had turned into a group of fifty kids from the surrounding area.

It wasn't like there was a lot to worry about when it came to trick or treating in Gracemont. It wasn't a crime free town, but other than a odd robbery maybe twice a year, figuring out which teenager had painted the latest graffiti on a wall or made a creative attempt to change a traffic sign, seemed almost trivial. Especially when compared to the things Gracemont's parents saw when the washed the evening news. The town's last kidnaping had occurred in the nineties. For the most part, the town's five police officers were kept busy dealing with petty larceny, teenage vandalism and traffic accidents. No one alive, could remember the last murder investigation that had taken place in the town.

Despite all that, having their kids celebrate Halloween in a controlled environment had seemed like a great idea to the parents working at Tumbleweed Plant Nursery. It had especially appealed to one man in particular, who though in his fifties, now found himself raising his nine-year old niece. Jason Gideon had probably seen more horrors in his lifetime than the entire population of Gracemont put together.

He had settled in Gracemont two and a half years ago. Taking a job at the Tumbleweed Plant Nursery it hadn't been long before he found himself developing a strong friendship with the owner of the nursery, Jasmine Elliot. A year after settling in the town, that friendship had blossomed into something more. Something Jason Gideon had never thought he would be able to find again after walking away from his old life.

Two weeks after he and Jasmine had gotten married, Jasmine had received a call telling her that her younger sister and her husband had been killed in a car accident. That tragedy had left her then eight year old niece an orphan. The grandparents, though still living on there own in Kansas, were in no position to take in the little girl. Jason hadn't hesitated when Jasmine had asked his opinion of taking in her niece, Vanessa.

The three of them made an unlikely family but it was working and now as Jason finished carving the last jack-o-lantern, his only thoughts were about making this Halloween a memorable one for Vanessa and the other kids.

As he finished the last cut, Jason stood back and admired his handy work. It had been awhile since he had carved a pumpkin but he hadn't done too shabby of a job. He had enjoyed it too. Now he just hoped the kids appreciated his efforts.

His cell phone rang and he placed the knife on the picnic table in between two completed jack-o-lanterns. Taking his phone from the clip he looked down at the screen. Though the screen didn't show a name, Gideon recognized the number that was there. It was the last number he expected to see. The former FBI agent entertained the thought of not answering the call momentarily before he finally flipped it open, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Hello."

"Jason, it's Aaron," came the familiar voice of his former colleague.

"I have to say, you're the last person I expected to hear from. As there is only one person we both know that has this number, I don't think I need to ask how you got it."

"It's not quite as simple a situation as you might think. You can't blame Reid for me getting your phone number. He doesn't even know about this."

"Has something happened?" Jason asked. He had worked with Aaron Hotchner long enough to pick up the subtleties in the tone of the younger man's voice. Hotch's voice was grim and there was a focus to it. A focus that he always got when he was hunting a monster. The peaceful, happy feeling Jason had been feeling not long ago was no longer there.

Getting really sick of repeating the events of the day, Hotch once again found himself recounting the details. "I believe you're in danger, Jason. If you'd like for me to get agents from the Oklahoma City field office to give you protection . . ."

"No that won't be necessary. I'll tell my family to get out of the area so they'll be safe and then I'm heading out your way."

"Family?"

"A lot has changed Aaron. I don't think now is the time for us to catch up with one another," Jason said, his mind already racing as to what needed to be done to get Jasmine and Vanessa away quickly.

"Agreed. But what do you mean about coming out here."

"If someone attacked Spencer to get to me, I want to do everything in my power to see that he's caught," Jason replied. Anticipating the argument from his old friend, he didn't hesitate in continuing. "I know I'm no longer an agent, but if you're looking at old cases of mine, I might pick up on something that the rest of you might miss. Or I might remember something important that isn't in those files. Either way, you can use my help and don't tell me that you can't."

"It might not be safe for you here."

"Well, its definitely isn't safe for me here, as this UnSub has my contact information. The last thing he'll expect is for to suddenly show up back there. I'll probably be safer there then out here."

"Fine," Aaron said, given in. "Give me a call when you get in. And Jason."

"Yeah."

"Be careful."

"I will," Jason replied. He said good-bye to his old friend and returned the phone to its clip.

First thing he needed to do was find Jasmine. She needed to get things together for her and Vanessa, pick the girl up from school and then head for Kansas. He wasn't about to put them at risk. Once they were safely away he'd make arrangements for Carl Jenkins to run the nursery while they were gone, let Sheriff Pyle know what was going on so they could be on the look out for any strangers asking questions about him, and whatever other arrangements needed to be made. By tomorrow morning he planned on being back east. Back in the city he had promised himself he had left behind forever.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Sorry about the missing piece at the end of the chapter that several reviewers pointed out. Thank-you for doing so, and I have fixed it.

* * *

_**BAU, Quantico, Virginia:**_

"I told you that it would be safer for you to stay in Chicago while we take care of the situation," Hotch said, as he stepped off the elevator onto the sixth floor of the BAU, only a step behind Morgan.

The bullpen was empty at this time of day, almost seven p.m. on a Friday evening. The offices were all dark. The only light on in the rooms around the perimeter of the floor was the conference room that Morgan and his team met in. Though the blinds were drawn, the light seen through the open door indicated that the room was in use.

"You really expect me to hide out in Chicago during all this," Morgan said, as he strolled along the upper walkway around the bullpen. "This from the guy who didn't even wait for back-up when he went after Foyet. Hell, you didn't even have your very own personal Terminator following you around," Morgan said, glancing over his shoulder and pointing to the FBI agent who was following him and Hotch.

At six foot five, and the build of an NFL linebacker, Agent William Franklin was easily the biggest man currently in the room. Usually assigned to the D.C. field office, Agent Franklin was one of the two agents assigned to watch out for Agent Morgan for the duration of the current situation. The other agent, SSA Fred Perkins, was currently patrolling outside the building, watching for any unauthorized persons lurking around outside. Given the fact that the BAU was located on a secured military base, Morgan thought that action was overkill. Knowing that anything he had to say on the subject would fall on deaf ears, the profiler hadn't even bothered.

"This isn't about me," Hotch said, not about to get into a conversation about his actions while they were searching for Foyet.

Morgan opened his office door, and placed the bags he was carrying just inside the door. Pulling the door shut, he continued to the conference room.

"Look, I'm not about to hide out in Chicago trying to stay safe. Put more of the people I care about at risk as this guy tries to get to me through them. I don't think so. One way or another I'm going to help find this guy, the only choice you have is if your going to let me help the team or I ditch my "body guards" and look for this guy myself."

"The fact that he was waiting for you at the airport means absolutely nothing to you, does it?" Hotch asked.

"Sure it does. It means I owe you a new car window," Morgan said, referring to the shattered passenger side window in Hotch's personal SUV from the bullet that had been fired at him, as he and Hotch had made their way to the car from the airport. The profiler was hiding behind his tough-guy persona, and making light of the incident because it was easier than admitting that the near hit had scared him to death.

"Like I really care about the window," Hotch muttered as he followed Morgan into the conference room. Franklin took up a position at the rail separating the bullpen area from the rest of the room, opposite the conference room.

Rossi looked up from where he stood on the far side of the table from the entrance to the room. He took in Morgan, as the agent strode across the room and sat down in one of the empty chairs across from Rossi. The dark skinned agent looked exhausted and he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. The older agent moved his gaze from Morgan to his boss.

"Do I even want to ask what happened?" Rossi ventured, having heard most of what the two had said from the moment they stepped off the elevator.

"Whoever this guy is, he either followed me to the airport, which means he knew Morgan was arriving, or he was waiting at the airport for Morgan to get back. Either way, he took a shot at him in the parking lot and hit the back passenger side window of the SUV. Franklin and Perkins got a glance at the suspect fleeing but weren't able to pursue."

"So our UnSub either isn't a good marksman, or felt rushed when he made the shot."

"Or the shot was only a scare tactic," Prentiss ventured as she entered the room, walking past Hotch.

"No. If your smart, you don't take a shot at a federal agent as a scare tactic. If you're going to shoot, you're going to try making the shot count because you can be sure they're going to try shooting back," Hotch replied. "Where were you?"

"On the phone with the crime lab guys who agreed to put in some extra hours for us. What they can tell us for sure is that the material came from a sweat shirt. As far as they can tell, it was a Georgetown University Sweatshirt as the blue is the same color of the logo's on the school's clothing and could possibly be a part of the bulldog logo."

"So we're looking for someone that has some kind of connection with Georgetown University?" Morgan ventured. "Former student, professor or some other kind of staff or possibly a parent with a kid at the school."

"Which could be how they tracked down Reid," Prentiss said. "He still gives lectures over there."

"Anyone know when the last lecture Reid gave there was?" Hotch asked. As he looked around at his team members he was met with three shaking heads, and two guilty expressions. The guilty expressions were from Emily and Morgan, whom Hotch figured felt they should know a detail like that about their colleague. Rossi appeared deep in thought.

"Maybe Garcia would know?" Morgan ventured.

Hotch nodded. "The lecture would be public knowledge. If the UnSub was at the last lecture, then he could have followed Reid home to find out where he lived."

"But if the UnSub was looking for Morgan and Gideon, why follow Reid."

"Reid was the easiest member of the team for the UnSub to locate. He's been published numerous times, does the lectures at Georgetown," Hotch speculated. "It's a fairly safe bet that if you can locate an agent you know works or worked with who you are looking for that you can figure out how to find them from that agent."

"And if you've watched them enough, and did enough research, you could also be fairly certain as to how your targets are going to react if you attack the agent you've located. If you know your target isn't in town, what better way to get them back in town then to put someone who means something to them in the hospital," Rossi said, expressing the thoughts that had been churning around in his head for the last few minutes.

"Are you saying Reid was attacked to get me back here?" Morgan asked, the guilt he was feeling evident in the tone of his voice.

"It makes sense. The UnSub was clearly waiting at the airport for you. Now he either found out you were coming back and found out what flight you would be on or, and I think this is more likely, he was merely waiting for you to make an appearance. He either knew or found out you were out of town, by attacking Reid he knew you would come back."

Morgan slammed his fist down on the table, making the files arranged in piles on the table jump. "I want to catch this bastard."

"We will," Hotch said confidently. "So let's figure out what we know and what we need to do next."

"I've got that tech Lynch running a search for possible parolees or recent escapees from cases the BAU were involved in during our target years," Rossi said. "We've got most of the files sorted," Rossi said looking down at the piles of files on the table. "Like we discussed, cases in which Morgan and Gideon weren't both involved directly in the apprehension and interrogation of the UnSub we can safely eliminate," Rossi said gesturing to a group of four piles, Gideon's medical leave having added extensively to those piles. "That leaves cases that weren't solved, ones that ended in a conviction, and ones that ended with the death of the subject none of which we can eliminate at this time," he continued pointing out each group of files as he went.

"If the subject is dead or in jail, how can they be behind this?" Morgan questioned, not following Rossi's logic.

"We could if we knew for sure we were dealing with a UnSub we have faced before, which is the presumption we're working on right now. We're operating on the presumption that this UnSub blames Morgan and Gideon for ruining his life by stopping whatever it was they were doing at the time. What if we're only half right about that?" Rossi said, The elder profiler glanced at Prentiss, encouraging her to pick up the explanation. It had, after all, been her original brainstorm.

"What if this guy isn't someone the BAU tracked down and caught. What if it's someone related to one of the killers that was caught, like a son. Someone who holds us responsible for them growing up without their father," Prentiss said. She was purposely not singling Morgan out, wanting to know they considered this a problem that affected all of us, though all signs indicated that their UnSub held Morgan and Gideon accountable for whatever it was he was seeking revenge for. "If that's the case whether the UnSub in that case was killed or is in jail doesn't matter."

"So the UnSub does blame them for ruining their life, though indirectly not directly. We're not looking for someone who is the subject in one of these files but rather has a link to someone in one of these files."

"If that's the case, the UnSub could be a student at Georgetown. If he heard about one of Reid's lectures that could have been what suddenly set him off on his vendetta," Morgan commented.

"Let's narrow down our search by eliminating the cases where the UnSubs had no offspring," Hotch told the three other agents gathered with him. "I think its more likely this UnSub is revenging a death more than a parent who has been incarcerated, so let's start looking through those files."

Once they had some names, Kevin Lynch could start running those names and see what got turned up. They would be looking for someone who had been in their teens at the time of the case - young enough to be near college age now, but old enough at the time that they had developed a close bond to the parent at the time of case. A bond that had suddenly been severed by either the death or apprehension of the parent. A loss that this currently UnSub linked to the federal agents who either had shot him or arrested them. That hatred would have appeared in some form, protests against law enforcement methods, or the government in some way, before now. Hotch knew that it was that belief and the link to Georgetown University that would lead them to finding the UnSub. The question was, could they do it in time to keep anyone else from getting hurt.

The profilers all reached for some of the files in the appropriate piles to begin their search. It was a long shot of finding the UnSub through this method but for now it was all they had to go off of.

As he opened the file on top of the stack he had grabbed, Hotch thought of something. "Dave, where's Agent Jackson?" he asked, realizing the agent from IA Strauss had assigned to work with them was no longer there. Jackson had been with Rossi and Prentiss when he had left for the airport.

"Decided to call it a night and went home. Said he'd meet us here at eight tomorrow morning, though he didn't seem at all happy about it and to call him if we got any important leads. I didn't mind seeing him leave and I didn't think you would either," Rossi replied.

"Isn't Jackson with Internal Affairs?" Morgan asked. All three of his teammates nodded and from their grim expressions Morgan was able to figure out they had gotten stuck with him. Probably courtesy of Strauss. "This whole situation just keeps getting better and better," Morgan muttered, glancing over his shoulder, Through the door, he caught a glimpse of Franklin's arm, as the agent kept watch out in the main area.

* * *

_**Gracemont, Oklahoma**_:

With a final hug, Jason Gideon stepped back from his niece, who was in the front seat of the Dodge Neon, and shut the car door. He didn't think Vanessa could quite comprehend everything that was going on, but she could sense that he and her aunt were bothered by something. Sense there urgency. Jason had a feeling that awareness was the only thing keeping the girl from protesting more about being taken away from the place she now called home right before the Halloween Party she had been talking about non-stop for the last week.

~_I'll make it up to her_,~ Gideon thought, not quite knowing how but sure he would figure out a way eventually.

As Vanessa buckled the seatbelt, Jason turned toward his wife. Unlike Vanessa she understood exactly what was going on. Jasmine knew about his past. Knew that when he had met her, that he had been running from that life. Searching for the part of his soul that his job had taken away from him. It had been Jasmine that had allowed him to find that part of him again. Allowed him to be able to trust in people and love someone again. Had given him the strength to start believing once more that there was some good in humanity. That the bad guys didn't always win.

Except here he was, once again faced with the possibility of losing all that was good in his life. Of that darkness shattering the life he had built here in Gracemont. Looking around, Jason knew that this was something that he didn't want to lose. This was something worth fighting for. Something worth immersing himself once more in the hell he had left behind three years ago.

"Come with us," Jasmine said, her eyes pleading once again, as he put his arms around her. "We'll sell the house and the nursery and go somewhere else. We'll start over somewhere where the guy won't find you. As long as I'm with you, starting over doesn't matter."

"I can't do that, Jas. Please understand that. I love you. I love the life we've made here together. If I let him make me run from this, then the next time, running will be even easier. It will get easier until running has become a way of life. I ran one time, and now that I've found myself again, I'm not about to run again."

Jasmine nodded, a sad smile to her face. She understood what her husband was saying. Understood the darkness that was within him and knew even before she had asked what his answer would be.

"Stay safe and come back to us," she told him, wrapping her arms around her husband and holding him close.

"I will. I'm doing this so that we will have a future together," Jason told her. He felt Jasmine nod her head against his chest.

As the two broke away from their embrace, they shared a long deep kiss. Then finally, stepping out of the shelter of Jason's arms, Jasmine headed for the driver's side of the Neon. Jason watched her as she got in, fastened her seatbelt, and with blowing him one last kiss pulled out of the driveway. He watched the silver Neon drive into the distance, on its way to Kansas. With any luck, Jasmine and Vanessa would be safe with Jasmine's parents. The UnSub wouldn't know to look for her there and if Jason had anything to do with it, he wouldn't even get a chance to try hunting them down.

The UnSub was already in the D.C. area. As he appeared to be after both Morgan and himself, the reasonable thing to do would be to finish with Morgan before he came looking for anyone else. The fact gave Jason the jump on this guy. Before the UnSub came looking for him he planned on going hunting for the UnSub.

Turning, Jason headed into the house. He needed to gather what he would need for his trip back to D.C. So far he had spent all his time worrying about what needed to be done to protect his wife and niece. Now that they were safely away, he needed to focus on the task at hand.

Heading to the bedroom he shared with Jasmine, Jason went to the closet and pulled out an old worn bag. His old go-bag. The only bag he had taken when he had left the D.C. area. When he had run away from what his life had become. He hadn't used it since settling here in Gracemont, but now it was time to head back. To face what he had run away from.

Jason started hurriedly gathering things he would need for his trip back East. He planned on coming back so he only needed the necessities. Clothing and toiletries to get him through the days he would be away from home. As he pulled things from his top drawer his eyes fell upon an envelope.

Pausing in his packing, Jason took the envelope out of the drawer. His name and address, in Spencer Reid's neat precise handwriting, was written on the front of it. Inside, was a letter that he didn't need to look at to remember the words after having read it so many times. It was the only letter he had received from the young man who had been like a son to him. Recalling his conversation with Aaron from earlier that day, he wondered if it would be the last.

There had been days over the years that he had missed every member of his former team. The team he had walked out on. Had disappointed. The person who had most often come to mind though had been Spencer. He had left at a critical time for the young man and yet he never had a doubt that Spencer had overcome those demons he had been struggling with at the time. There had been too many people surrounding him who cared about him for that not to be the case. Yet, Jason often found himself wondering how the young genius was doing. What kind of person those events had forced him to become.

Knowing that he had no right to do so, Jason had sent the first letter to Reid back in September. He wasn't sure how the letter would be received. Would Reid open it or toss it in the trash unopened? With the end of September approaching and no reply letter forthcoming, he had sent a second letter, hoping that maybe this one wouldn't be ignored. Jason had just given up receiving a reply. Was coming to the realization that his time with the FBI really was a part of the past, he had received this letter from Spencer.

The letter wasn't all upbeat and Jason hadn't expected it to be. He knew the young man would be angry and hurt at some level with how Jason had chosen to walk out of his life. The former profiler wouldn't have been surprised if Spencer had told him he didn't want him back in his life. That he wanted to be left alone. That hadn't been the case though. The letter had ended with Spencer telling him that though he wasn't sure he could ever trust him again, that he was willing to continue their correspondence and let things go where they may.

Folding the envelope, Gideon stuffed it in the front pocket of the button down shirt that he wore. The current situation was his fault. By walking back into Spencer's life, he had helped make the young federal agent a target. Facing this situation was the only way he could help ease the guilt he felt as well as the only way to protect his new family.

Grabbing an well worn, over-sized khaki bucket hat, Gideon put it on his head. Grabbed his sunglasses from on top of the dresser and after throwing a few more things in his bags headed out of the room. He refused to be the hunted. Though he had been trying to deny it for the past three years, Jason Gideon knew that deep down, part of him would always be a hunter. It was time for the hunter to resurface to protect the ones he loved.

* * *

_**BAU, Quantico, Virginia:**_

The only sound in the room was the rustling of papers as the four profilers plodded their way through case files. It was slow going and though new piles were being formed, the old piles had barely been dented. The sound of footsteps made them all look up to see Technical Analyst Kevin Lynch come into the room.

"Please tell us you've got good news," Morgan said wearily, as he added yet another file to the stack of files containing subjects with no known offspring. The fact that the UnSub could be an unknown offspring of one of these monsters had crossed his mind, and he was sure the others had considered it to. The task ahead of the was just so daunting as it was that none of them had wanted to put voice to that possibility.

"Well, depends on how you look at it really. The search came up with no escapees from your team's past cases," Kevin told them. "Good news for the general populace but not much help for you all I'm afraid," he added, apologetically.

"It's okay. Not every lead actually pans out," Hotch told the techie. He was about to say more when his cell phone rang. Looking down, he saw JJ's number. "Dave, why don't you bring Kevin up to speed on the new angle and what we're going to need from him next," Hotch said, getting to his feet.

Dave nodded as the unit chief left the room. As he walked through the doorway, Hotch answered the phone. "Hotchner."

"Hotch, I've got some good news for you. Spence is awake."

Hotch found himself letting out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. "How is he?"

"Overwhelmed I think would best describe it. It took quite awhile to calm him down when he found himself restrained. When I finally did clam him down, he was having trouble remembering what happened, which for someone who never forgets anything, must be very unnerving. Both the attending on duty and one of the hospital's psychologists are in with him now."

Hotch nodded though the blonde he was talking to couldn't see the gesture. It was the first piece of good news he had all day and the relief of hearing it was making him realize just how tired he was getting. He glanced down at his watch - it was quarter to nine at night. It had been twelve hours since he had walked into the office that morning. He was sure his team was feeling as exhausted as he was.

"I'll be there shortly, JJ," he told her. He was determined to get her to head home to her son for the night. It was going to be a battle and he knew better than to even suggest it to her over the phone. This was a battle better fought in person and with Will as back-up.

"Okay. Did Morgan get in?"

"Yeah. He's here at the office with me. I have a feeling he'll be coming there with me." Hotch also had a feeling he wouldn't be the only one.

"Okay. I'll see you when you get here then," JJ said, before ending the call.

Hotch headed back to the conference room, relieved to have some upbeat news to report for once today. It was also time that they called it quits for the day. They all needed to get some rest. To be able to clear their minds as tomorrow looked like it was going to be another long day. A long day, which was only going to get more complicated with the addition of Agent Jackson who had already demonstrated how he felt about this assignment. Jackson had his own agenda and actually helping them solve this case wasn't it.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Hotch, Prentiss, Rossi and Morgan, who was trying really hard to forget about Franklin trailing behind him, stepped off the elevator onto the floor where Reid's room was. Before reaching the nurses station, they spotted JJ, Will and Garcia sitting in a small waiting room. The three were the only ones in the room at this time of night.

"Any more news?" Hotch asked, directing the question to JJ, who was sitting in a chair next to Will. The later had his arm around JJ, holding her close.

JJ shook her head. "They're still in with him," she said softly. Her voice revealed the same tiredness that was obvious on her face.

Upon seeing Morgan, Garcia had gotten to her feet and crossed the room to Morgan. The two friends embraced, Garcia grateful to finally be able to have the support of her best friend. Morgan had a way of always making her feel safe and she needed that right now.

"It's going to be okay, Baby Girl," he told her, as he held the red-head close. She obviously didn't know everything that was going on as she hadn't scolded him for coming back instead of staying in Chicago. He glanced toward the doorway to see Franklin standing across the hall from the entrance. He knew Garcia would find out eventually but he was hoping he could keep her from finding out tonight. Let her rest a bit easier tonight not knowing he was one of the UnSub's next targets.

"Why Reid?" she asked, in a low, shaky voice.

~_Because somehow the UnSub figured out he could get to me through Reid. Instead of protecting him, I've put him in danger._~

He didn't voice those thoughts though. He couldn't. Not to Garcia. His Baby Girl was upset enough by the days events and he wasn't about to upset her more.

"I don't know," he told her softly, running his hand down the back of her head, in an attempt to comfort her.

"Are you any closer to finding this guy?" JJ asked, not moving from her position, only looking up at her former boss.

"We've got some leads but they're a long shot. Hopefully Reid will be able to give us more information to work with."

"I'm not sure how much help he's going to be. I told you Hotch, he's having trouble remembering what happened."

"I heard you JJ. He's my friend too. I plan on handling this delicately."

JJ nodded, then sat up a bit straighter as she saw the attending doctor and the psychologist, who had been in with Reid, in the doorway of the waiting room. She got to her feet as the psychologist headed down the hallway and the attending walked into the room. Dr. Dixon glanced around the room at everyone who had gathered. He recognized JJ, Garcia and Will and as the knew comers seemed to know those three, he assumed they were all here for the same reason.

Noticing JJ's shift in attention, Hotch had turned around. Before the doctor could speak up, he addressed the doctor. "I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner, Agent Reid's supervisor," Hotch said addressing the doctor. "How is he?"

Dr. Dixon nodded and began talking as he looked around at the people in the room who gathered around to listen. He started with the positive news, the news that he knew from the report he received from Dr. Caprelli that they would be relieved to have confirmation for. As Dr. Caprelli's examination of the injuries had indicated, this had not been a suicide attempt. Dr. Edith Henry evaluation hadn't revealed any of the typical signs that indicated a tendency toward suicide. Though she had recommended to Reid that he talk to someone about this ordeal, she had not deemed a pysch hold necessary. Physically, the fact that Reid had regained conciousness was a good sign. Though memories of the event were fuzzy, there wasn't any long term memory loss apparent.

"We'll keep monitoring his condition tonight, and do another CT scan in the morning to compare to the two taken today. The cerebral contusion is the most significant injury at this point but right now doesn't require any intervention. As long as the bleeding doesn't get worse or swelling doesn't develop there shouldn't be any complications."

"Can we see him?" Prentiss asked.

Dr. Dixon nodded. "Yeah, he actually requested that someone come back in. Just keep it to no more than two at a time, and try to keep things low key. He needs rest and I think he'll be more likely to get that if he knows someone is there."

"Do you think he'll be ready to answer questions in the morning?" Hotch asked. As much as they needed answers he wasn't about to put his youngest team member through an interview tonight.

"You can try but I'll have to ask you to use good judgement. If it seems like its upsetting him then stop."

"Understood."

"If there are no other questions, I've got other patients to see," Dr. Dixon said, looking around the group. No one spoke, and with a final nod the doctor made his way out of the waiting room.

Hotch turned and faced those gathered around him. Other than his family, these people were the most important people in his life. No matter what he was feeling inside, he had to be strong for them. It was his responsibility to see them all through this.

"JJ and Garcia, I'm sure you'll want to see Reid again before leaving, but afterwards I think the two of you should head home," Hotch said addressing the two women who had been at the hospital all day. Will was now standing next to JJ, and arm around her waist. Not far away, Garcia was standing close to Morgan, the two friends drawing strength from one another. He saw them both open their mouths to protest the suggest and quickly continued. "You've both been here all day. Go home and get some rest."

"I'm not leaving," JJ said, defiantly.

"Honey, Hotch is right. You need to rest. Wearing yourself out isn't going to help anyone," Will told her softly. "Besides, Henry needs some time with you too," he added, knowing that their son's interests was always a way to soften her defiance.

JJ nodded reluctantly. "I just need to let him know I'll be back in the morning," she said.

"Why don't the two of you go first," Hotch said, to Will and JJ nodding toward the door.

Emotionally and physically exhausted from the days events, JJ let Will lead her out of the room and down the hallway.

"Someone should stay here with him tonight," Garcia said, as JJ and Will left the room. "Reid shouldn't have to be here alone."

"I'll stay, tonight," Morgan told her, giving Garcia's shoulders a reassuring squeeze. He noticed Hotch opening in his mouth, probably ready to protest and held up the hand that wasn't currently around the team's technical analyst. "It makes the most sense. Garcia's been here all day. You and JJ need to get home to your kids and no offense," he said, looking first at Rossi and then at Emily, "I'm closer to Reid than either of you. I think my presence will be the most comfortable for all involved."

Rossi and Emily nodded in silent agreement. Hotch didn't say anything but the look on his face clearly said he wasn't convinced.

"Besides, you said you didn't want me to go home, Hotch. If I'm here you don't have to worry about that."

"Doesn't want you to go home. What? Why?" Garcia asked, her voice laced with panic.

"Precautionary," Hotch told her, quickly. He looked at Morgan and nodded. It did make the most sense and Hotch had a feeling having Morgan near-by would be more comforting to the young genius than the rest of them. "Fine although I think I'm leaving Jack with Jessica tonight. Gideon is flying in sometime tonight and someone should meet him at the airport."

"Gideon?" Morgan said surprised. "How did you get a hold of him and why the hell is he coming back now?"

"Apparently, he has the same tendencies as you and instead of staying clear of an UnSub that is looking for him, plans on meeting him head on," Hotch told him, causing Garcia to look once more at Morgan, her face a canvas of worry.

"Let me know when he gets in and I'll meet him," Rossi said, before Garcia had a chance to voice anything she might have been feeling. "You need to spend sometime with Jack along with getting some sleep."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Hotch said, looking at Rossi. "The two of you always had a way of bringing out the worse in each other."

"I'll be on my best behavior, Mom," Rossi said in a completely serious tone, though the slight smile on his face contradicted it.

The other three tried to hide amused faces at Rossi's comment. Shooting the older profiler a look of pure annoyance, Hotch acquiesced. "Fine. We'll meet in the morning at seven thirty. I want to give us a chance to talk before Jackson shows up."

"Jackson?" Garcia asked.

"We'll catch you up on everything tomorrow, Baby Girl," Morgan reassured her. He was sure she would have a lot to say on the subject of him putting himself in danger, and he really didn't want to deal with that tonight. "Can someone give Garcia a ride home?"

"I will," Prentiss said before Garcia had a chance to protest. "In fact, let's go see if Will can drag JJ away from Reid's side yet," she added, motioning for the techie to come with her.

With a final hug from Morgan, Garcia left the room with Prentiss.

"Looks like I won't get to wear the costume I bought for the party after all," Rossi commented trying to break the silence that had fallen over the room.

"You were actually going to dress up in costume?" Hotch asked, giving the other profiler a look of disbelief.

"Yeah, as what?" Morgan asked, curious as to what costume Rossi would possibly have chosen.

"Wolverine."

Morgan snorted. "Why doesn't that surprise me. Once a loner, always a loner."

Hotch's cell phone rang then. Taking it out, he saw Gideon's number on the screen. Excusing himself from the others, he answered the call.

* * *

Rossi, Morgan and Franklin were waiting in the hallway, outside of Reid's room. While the first two stood side by side in comfortable silence, Franklin stood a few feet away, his gaze constantly scanning the few people walking through the hallway.

The door to the room opened, and Garcia slipped out, tears running down her face.

"I can't help it," she said apologetically, as Morgan stepped forward and held his arms out to her. "I can't stand to see him like that. I want to be strong for him but I just couldn't do it," she said through her tears as she fell into her friend's protective grasp.

"It's okay, Baby Girl. We all understand. Even Reid," Morgan whispered to her as Rossi reached for the door handle of the room and slipped inside.

Prentiss looked up at the sound of his entrance. "I'll stop in again tomorrow, okay," the dark-haired brunette said, looking back toward Reid.

Reid nodded his head slightly once, even that small movement painful. "Check on Garcia," he told her, his voice low and barely audible to Rossi who was slowly making his way toward the bed.

"I will. I'm going to make sure she gets home okay," Prentiss reassured him, patting his shoulder lightly before leaving his side.

Rossi let his hand rest briefly on Prentiss upper arm as she passed by him. Prentiss nodded to the elder profiler as she headed toward the door. As she left the room, Rossi moved to take her place by the bed side.

Despite the look of total exhaustion on his face, Reid still had his eyes open. He watched his teammate without moving his head.

"You've definitely looked better, Kid," Rossi said lightly, as he rested his hands on the raised bed rail.

"I'm sure," Reid replied. "It was you that found me, wasn't it? I seem to remember your voice."

"Yeah, it was," Rossi told him.

"That's good. I wouldn't want it to have been Garcia or JJ or even Emily. It was good that they were at least spared that."

Rossi found himself choked up at the words. After what he had just been through, Reid was still able to worry about those around him. Rossi nodded, agreeing whole heartedly with the assessment. The others, even Hotch and Morgan who were closer to Reid than he himself was, didn't need that memory to haunt them. It was a scene that he knew he wasn't going to be able to forget for a long time.

"I remember hearing the guy leave and I knew I needed help but there was too much pain. The darkness was closing in, and it was just to much to fight. I remember thinking it would have been so much easier to just let go but then I heard your voice. I wanted to answer but I couldn't. I knew I had to hang on though," Reid said, his voice cutting through Rossi's thoughts.

"You did, Reid. You hung on and now we're going to find the person who did this to you. I promise you that."

"I'm having trouble remembering. I know I need to . . ."

"Not right now, Reid. Don't force it," Rossi told him, reaching out to place a hand on the young man's shoulder. Behind him he heard the door open and closed. He didn't need to look behind him to know Hotch had entered the room. "You need rest right now. We'll help you sort through everything later. For now, just rest," Rossi told him, remembering the doctor's words.

"Well, you've got a little more color to you than when I saw you earlier," Hotch commented as he approached the other side of the bed. Reid shifted his head slightly to that side, to look in Hotch's direction. Both visitors caught the slight wince of pain. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," Reid replied, not even able to think of any witty remark. "Tell Jack I'm sorry I won't be able to join him for trick or treating."

"You don't have to apologize for that. I will let him know how disappointed you are to be missing it though," Hotch told him.

Reid nodded as his eyes began to drift shut. Across the bed, Hotch and Rossi exchanged glances. They both knew that sleep was about to claim the young doctor. With silent agreement, they both moved to head for the door.

"Don't leave," came the plaintive request from Reid, as he struggled to open his eyes again. He slowly lifted his left hand up, reaching out, a wince of pain crossing his face as he did so.

Hotch turned back toward him, and took the reaching hand in his own. "Someone will be here the whole night, Reid. Just relax," Hotch reassured him, looking toward Rossi and nodding toward the door. He felt Reid tighten his fingers around his hand, even as his eyes closed again.

It wasn't long before Morgan had entered the room, but even so by the time Morgan was standing beside Hotch, Reid's breathing had started to even out in a sign of sleep. Pulling his hand gently free of Reid's grasp, he turned it over to Morgan, before he headed for the door.

* * *

_**Stafford, Virginia:**_

Aaron Hotchner parked the black bureau owned SUV behind his sister-in-law's car. Getting out of the vehicle, he headed up the walkway. Half way to the house, the front door opened and Jessica was soon standing in the doorway.

Jessica waited silently as her brother-in-law walked toward the house. As he reached the porch steps she spoke up.

"Jack is still awake. He wouldn't go to sleep until he got to see you, Aaron."

Hotch nodded. "I need to talk to him anyway," he replied. "Is it okay if we stay here tonight. I need to leave early in the morning and it will be less disruptive for Jack."

"Of course," Jessica replied. "How's Reid?" she asked, having received a few brief updates throughout the day.

"He regained consciousness but they're still keeping a close eye on him," Hotch replied, as Jessica stepped aside to let him enter the house. "About tomorrow night, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I can take Jack out trick-or-treating but if I can't . . ."

"I'll take him," Jessica said, nodding her head in agreement. "In fact, if you don't mind, I'd like to join you two even if you are able to make time."

"We'd be happy to have you," Hotch told her, a small smile gracing his features. "Where is he?"

"The living room. I've got Toy Story running for him."

Hotch nodded and without removing his tan trench coat, headed for the living room. He had no sooner stepped into the doorway of the living room when Jack threw himself around Hotch's legs. Reaching down, the father picked up his son and hugged him close.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Hotch asked his son, looking at him.

"I wanted to know you were home. I missed you Daddy,"

"I missed you too," Hotch told his son, looking into Jack's eyes as his son leaned back in his arms to look at him.

"Aunt Jesca said you were working a case. Can I help?"

"Not this time pal," Hotch said, as he turned and headed for the steps. "Let's get you tucked into bed and I'll read you a story."

"I'm staying here?"

"Yes and so am I. It's late and Daddy has to go into work early in the morning," Hotch told his son, as he started up the stairs to the room Jessica had set aside for Jack when he stayed with her when Hotch was out of town, which was more than Hotch would have preferred.

"What about trick-or-treating?"

"I am going to try my very best to make it," Hotch told him. "However, Spencer won't be able to join us," he added.

"Why not?" Jack asked, the disappointment in his voice clear.

Agent Hotchner hesitated in answering the question. How did he explain the situation to his son in a way that he would understand and wouldn't upset him too much. He was still pondering that as he reached Jack's room. He flipped the light on and walked over to the bed. He placed Jack on the bed that Jessica had already pulled the blankets back on. Jack settled himself in the middle of the bed, and Hotch pulled the blankets up, tucking them around the little boy.

"Spencer was hurt. He's at the hospital and he's going to have to stay there for a few days to get better."

"Is he hurt as bad as Mommy was?" Jack asked, a tremor in his voice.

"No," Hotch answered quickly, trying to keep his own voice from wavering. He hated that his son has made that connection. "Spencer just needs to stay at the hospital so the doctors can make him feel better."

"Can I visit him?"

"We'll have to wait until the doctors say its okay, okay buddy."

Jack nodded.

"Now what story do you want to hear?"

Hotch found himself smiling at the serious look that came over his son's face as Jack thought it over.

"Can we do something other than reading a story?"

"What?" Hotch asked, not about to agree to anything until he heard what it was.

"I want to color a picture to giver to Spencer. It might cheer him up. Being sick or hurt is no fun."

Once again Hotch felt himself getting choked up. It was the last thing he had expected. It never ceased to amaze him how attuned to other people's feelings the little boy was. Something that reminded him of Haley.

Despite the late hour, and knowing that not only should Jack get to sleep but that he should be trying to get some sleep himself, Hotch found himself nodding his consent. It was moments like these that not only would his son, but he himself, would come to cherish as the years passed.

"Which coloring book?"Hotch asked.

"The Disney one," Jack replied, as he threw back the blankets and climbed from the bed.

Hotch retrieved the coloring book and crayons from their spot on a shelf as Jack went from the bed to the child size table that sat in the one corner of the room. Hotch put the items on the table in front of Jack, and then settled down on the floor next to his son. He wasn't at all surprised when the little boy settled on a picture from the Pirates of the Caribbean.

"You're going to help to, right Daddy?" Jack asked as he picked out a green crayon and began coloring one of the pirates pants leg.

"Sure," Hotch told him absently grabbing the black crayon from the box. "What do you want me to color."

"Color that pirate," Jack answered pointing to the second pirate in the picture.

Hotch set about coloring the pirate Jack had pointed to. The two hadn't been at work very long when a flash of light caused Hotch to look up. In the doorway, Jessica stood with her camera. Despite the events of the day, the federal agent found himself smiling. Yes, moments like these were meant to be cherished. For a little while at least, he could shut out the horrible things that were taking place outside these walls.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: I want to thank cassibill for helping give me the idea with Rossi and Gideon first meeting up which helped me get past the part I was stuck on by writing the events from a different point of view. And thanks to all the people who have left a review, favorited, or put this story on their story alert. Glad to know my efforts are being enjoyed!

* * *

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

A nearby moan cut through the light sleep that Derek Morgan was in. Coming fully alert, he winced as his stiff muscles protested movement. Swinging his feet off the plastic chair they had been resting on, Morgan sat up and turned toward the bed beside him. Morgan caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall. It was almost three a.m. He had managed to get about three hours of sleep even in the uncomfortable makeshift bed he had turned the chairs into.

Looking at his friend, he found that Reid was awake, the first time since Morgan had come into the room. The dark-skinned agent had a feeling the younger man had been awake for awhile, as he seemed to be alert even though pain graced his pale features.

"Sleeping beauty awakes," Morgan said lightly, staying in the chair.

"You're one to talk," Reid replied, none of the usual lightness and enthusiasm in it that was normally present. His voice was dull with pain an exhaustion. "You snore, you know. Not that its uncommon as it's estimated that one in every eight, that's about thirty million, Americans snore."

Morgan shook his head, a smile coming to his lips, even as he tried not to laugh. "I see that bump to the head you took didn't effect all those statistics you've got stored up there," he said lightly.

"Bump to the head is definitely an understatement in this case," Reid told him, trying to sort out the confusing mesh of memories about the attack. He was sure the memories were there he just wasn't getting them in the right order. I remember my head hitting something hard at least twice. The guy was angry that I was resisting him. He wanted to be on his way by then. After the second hit things started getting hazy. I thought . . ." He stopped talking at that point, closing his eyes as if to shut out the memory.

"Reid, you don't need to talk about this yet," Morgan told him.

"Everything is a jumble inside. I don't ever forget anything. I should remember," Reid said the frustration evident in his voice.

Between the pain and the mixture of emotions he was feeling, Reid felt tears welling up in his eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of anyone, least of all Morgan. He bit his lower lip, trying to keep the tears at bay. Despite his best efforts, he felt a tear start rolling down his cheek. He started to reach up, to wipe it away, the sudden movement causing pain to shoot through his wrist and lower arm. Reid let his arm rest back on the bed and turned his head away from Morgan.

The older agent had seen the stray tears before Reid had turned his head away. Noticed the flush of embarrassment that colored the young geniuses face. Reaching out, Derek gently wiped the tears away. He hated seeing his friend in this must distress. What he hated more was the fact that Reid felt ashamed for feeling like he did.

Morgan desperately wished Garcia or JJ was here with him. Either of them would know what to say in this situation. Garcia would know what to say to cheer Reid up. Lighten the somber mood that was hanging thickly over the room. JJ would be all understanding. Would know the right things to say to comfort him.

Despite trying to come up with the right words, nothing Morgan thought of sounded right. Telling him not to stress over not remembering seemed insensitive. Seemed like it would only make Reid feel more embarrassed about his display of emotion. Morgan also didn't want to say something to make the younger profiler feel as though he was being patronized. And, try as he may, Morgan couldn't put himself in the younger man's shoes. Had no clue how frightening it would be to not remember something when you always remembered everything.

"Kid, we're going to get you through this," Morgan finally said, hoping the simple words would be enough.

There was a knock on the door. Morgan looked in that direction as the door slowly opened and the nurse on duty came into the room. The nurse made a quick assessment of Reid's condition and as he was awake, offered him ibuprofen to ease the pain. It took some convincing from Morgan to get Reid to take even the mild pain medication. Morgan understood his friend's reluctance given his past battle with addiction but he also didn't like seeing him suffer needlessly.

Soon after the nurse left, Reid started to drift off to sleep once again. Morgan was just about to prop his feet back up on the second chair when a gasp from Reid brought him to his feet.

"Kid, what is it?" Morgan asked, standing at the bedside, looking down at Reid who now had his eyes open once again. Morgan didn't miss the haunted look that was in them.

"I heard his voice but couldn't quite make out what he said."

Morgan knew what Reid was talking about. Knew that memories of the incident were starting to haunt his friend's attempts to sleep. Did he attempt to coax his friend back to sleep or try to distract him from the memories. Reid made the decision for him.

"Can you turn on the TV. I don't think I want to close my eyes right about now."

With a nod, Morgan reached for the remote to the TV that hung on the wall across the room. Moving one of the chairs, closer to the bed, Morgan settled into it and started flipping through channels.

* * *

_**Regan National Airport:**_

SSA David Rossi parked his vehicle in an empty parking spot and made his way toward the airport. He found himself scanning the surroundings as he walked wondering if their UnSub was lurking around the airport again. Did he somehow know Jason Gideon was coming back to the D.C. area? Rossi felt the chance was unlikely, but it still couldn't hurt to be vigilant.

After checking the schedule and seeing Gideon's flight had landed, Rossi made his way to the spot Hotch and Gideon and arranged for them to meet up. Leaning against the wall, Rossi folded his arms loosely in front of himself and took to scanning the crowd. There was someone in the area who had attacked one of his teammates, took a shot at a second, and the seasoned FBI agent wasn't about to let his guard down for a minute. Just because they thought that Morgan and Gideon were this guy's targets, it didn't mean the rest of them were safe.

Near-by a TV broadcasted a local news station. Most people walked right by it, more intent on their current destination then what was going on outside the building. Rossi glanced at it briefly, not really registering what was being reported, before going back to scanning the crowd, keeping a lookout for both Jason Gideon or anyone who was acting suspiciously.

It wasn't long, before Rossi spotted the former walking across the airport toward him. Though Rossi hadn't seen the former profiler since before he had retired to concentrate on his writing career, Gideon hadn't changed much at all, other than he looked a few years older. The former FBI agent spotted his former colleague, and as Rossi moved away from the wall, headed in his direction.

"Is this an indication of the welcome I can expect from everybody?" Gideon questioned as he came to a stop about two arm lengths away from Rossi. Though they had both shared a healthy respect for one another's abilities professionally, the two had never even really been buddies. In fact, the two had been more likely to be found disagreeing over something than sharing small talk back in the day.

Rossi shrugged his shoulders. "Can't speak for the others, though Morgan didn't sound to pleased when he heard you were coming back to town," he said. "As for sending me to pick you up, that was my idea. Given the circumstances it seemed like the most logical choice and I figured I'd take one for the team."

Gideon smiled. "You never were a team player, Dave, so forgive me if I find that a little hard to believe. I think its more like you'd just rather be in a position to keep an eye on me."

Rossi nodded his head slightly. "There is that benefit, but as for the team player bit, you might be in for a surprise. People can change you know. Some people might learn to depend on others while others might just up a walk out on people who depended on him."

The thinly veiled jab did not go unnoticed by Gideon who chose not to respond to it. Instead, he decided to do a little probing of his own. Finding out Rossi was back with the BAU had been quite a surprise to him. The profiler in him wanted to know why. Why would a man who had quite happily walked away from this life, to another successful career, end up coming back.

"I thought you didn't like the direction the BAU was going in, which is why you retired. That working as a team would only lead to group-think and stagnation of behavioral profiling and yet here you are. What made you come back?"

"I had my reasons," Rossi replied. "Personal reasons and your abrupt departure gave me the opportunity to fulfill them. I never intended the return to be long term but what can I say, your former team grew on me," he told Gideon, putting an emphasis on the word former.

The two men locked gazes for a moment, both trying to size each other up. It was finally Rossi who broke the silence.

"Let's go. Hotch arranged a hotel room for you. I'll drop you off and someone will come pick you up in the morning," Rossi said, as he started walking in the direction of the exit. He didn't bother to look over his shoulder to see if Gideon was following, he just assumed that he would.

They hadn't gone very far when he felt Gideon grab his arm.

"Hold up a minute," Gideon said, before Rossi had a chance to vocalize his displeasure.

Rosii turned to look at his former colleague and found Gideon looking at something off to their right. Following his gaze, Rossi found himself looking at the TV screen he had noted earlier. On the screen, a house had been enveloped in flames in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. There was something familiar about the scene but Rossi couldn't quite put his finger on what it was until Gideon spoke up.

"Isn't that Morgan's house?" Gideon asked, his eyes transfixed on the burning building on the TV screen.

Without a word in reply, Rossi pulled out his cell phone and started walking toward the exit now, at a much faster pace. Glad his teammate had stayed at the hospital with Reid and wasn't in any immediate danger, Rossi intended on making sure Morgan stayed there. He had a feeling this was another attempt to draw Morgan to where the UnSub wanted him.

"Hey Rossi," came Morgan's reply on the second ring. Rossi he could hear the distress in the younger man's voice. "If your calling about the fire, I've got it on the news here."

"Whatever you do, do not leave that hospital," Rossi told him. "The UnSub is trying to draw you to him. Let us handle this."

Rossi was met with silence. He had worked with Morgan long enough to know exactly what was going through the other agent's head right now. Knew that if someone else had been at the hospital with him, Morgan would already be heading to his burning home. Rossi also knew he could count on Morgan not leaving Reid alone.

"Morgan?"

"Right. Stay put. Got it," came Morgan's reply over the line.

"We'll be in touch," Rossi told him. They were outside the airport now, waking across the parking lot to Rossi's waiting SUV. As he ended the call he glanced over at Gideon who was right beside him at this point. "I'm dropping you off at your hotel and then heading over there."

"Forget the hotel," Gideon replied.

"You're staying at the hotel," Rossi said, in a tone of voice that clearly said he wanted no argument. "No matter what my personal feelings are, I'm not about to take you directly to the guy who is hunting you. This UnSub might be trying to draw Morgan out with this tactic but one glimpse of you and I'm quite sure he wouldn't mind taking a shot at you. You wanted to help but if you get yourself shot within a half hour of showing up that isn't going to help us at all. The UnSub doesn't know your in town. The longer we keep it that way the more advantageous it is for us."

"Fine," Gideon said reluctantly as the two reached the SUV.

Rossi and Gideon got into the vehicle, the former putting a call through to Hotch as he climbed behind the wheel. So much for any of them getting much sleep tonight.

* * *

_**Stafford, Virginia:**_

Hotch made his way quietly into his sister-in-laws bedroom. The light from the hallway gave him enough illumination to show him the outline of the furniture and other items about the room. Reaching the bedside table, Hotch touched the metal part of the lamp, causing it to turn on at its lowest setting.

"Jessica," Hotch said quietly, reaching out to touch his sister-in-law's shoulder.

Jessica came awake at the sound of her name, and upon seeing her brother-in-law, dressed in his suit without the tie, hovering over her head, sat up in the bed. "What is it?"

"There's been a development in the case. I need to leave. Tell Jack I'll call him as soon as I can."

"What time is it?"

"Almost four am."

"And you have to leave now? What's going on?" Jessica asked, concern lacing her voice. Despite the problems that a plagued her sister's marriage she knew Haley had never stopped loving her husband. A feeling she knew had gone both ways, which was why now, even after her sister's death, she considered Aaron her brother and worried about him when he was working on a case.

"One of my agent's house was set on fire, luckily the agent wasn't there. We believe it's the UnSub and that he may be on the scene. Channel six has coverage if your curious," Hotch told her, having caught some of the news coverage himself as he had quickly gotten dressed after Rossi's call.

"Be careful," Jessica told him, as Hotch headed out of her room. She was already reaching for the remote when Hotch glanced briefly back at her.

"I will," he replied, and then left the room.

Hotch made his way down the hallways and slipped into Jack's room. The small nightlight illuminated the bed where his son lay sleeping. Hotch quietly made his way over to his sleeping son. Leaning down, he kissed his son's forehead, watched him sleep peacefully for a few seconds, and then slipped back out of the room.

Grabbing a banana from the kitchen counter on his way by, Hotch made his way out to the car. He had already made phone calls to his team. He had called Morgan first, to reiterate Rossi's instruction for him to stay at the hospital. He had then call Prentiss and Garcia, asking both of them to meet him at the scene and to bring cameras. If the UnSub was in the area, they just might be able to catch him on film. Rossi was also going to meet him there after dropping Gideon off at his hotel. Hotch could only hope his former colleague would follow the instruction to stay at the hotel until someone came for him.

It wasn't long before Hotch had the black bureau owned SUV on route 1 and was driving north to Quantico.

* * *

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Unable to sit any longer, Morgan was now pacing the hospital room. He knew Rossi and Hotch were right, that going to the scene would be doing exactly what the UnSub was hoping he would do. After the earlier failed attempt at the airport, Morgan had no doubt in his mind that the UnSub was now waiting for him to show up at the burning house.

As he reached one wall, and turned around, Morgan's gaze fell on the bed. Reid was still awake, and with what was going on now, Morgan highly doubted his friend would be resting anytime soon. Reid diverted his gaze back to the TV screen when Morgan had turned, but the latter had already caught the former looking at him. Had already felt his friend's concerned gaze on him.

Morgan ran his hands back over his head, letting them come to rest, fingers intertwined behind his head. He hated being cooped up. Stuck in one place instead of out meeting the challenge head first. Still, this wasn't just about him. The whole team and then some were now caught up in this and he had to take that into account to. For now, this was where the team needed him to be.

With as sigh, he let his hands fall to his sides and headed back for the plastic chair that he had vacated earlier.

"Hotch just got there. The news camera showed him as he got out of his vehicle," Reid said, as Morgan sat down. "Do you think they're in any danger?"

"They know to watch their backs," Morgan said, glancing up at the tv screen. The camera was concentrated back on the firefighters working to put out the blaze. Looking at the scene, Morgan doubted there was going to be much left when they finally did get the fire out.

"Was Clooney . . .?" Reid started to ask, and then broke off. Morgan didn't need him to finish the question though.

"Clooney is with my neighbor," Morgan said, having already said a silent prayer of thanks that the dog hadn't been in the house. The house and the items inside of it were for the most part replaceable. Sure he was going to lose some things that had important memories attached to them, but Clooney was safe. That was what mattered. "I didn't even tell them I was coming back early so my neighbors probably think I'm still in Chicago."

"Good. That dog of yours might hate me, but I know what he means to you," Reid replied.

Morgan smiled in spite of the situation. Reid seldom came over to his place because of Clooney. The first time Reid had come over, Clooney had spent the whole time watching Reid and growling softly, putting the young genius on edge. He hadn't gotten within five feet of the dog, and had never left his eyes off of him.

"He doesn't hate you, the two of you just haven't given each other a chance."

"The dog hates me. All dogs do."

"You use to say that about kids too, but besides his father, Jack would rather be around you than any of the rest of us and Henry has already got his two god parents wrapped around his little finger."

Morgan had expected to get at least a small smile from Reid, with his comments. Instead, Reid only looked more upset.

"Jack is going to hate me after breaking my promise to go trick-or-treating with him, especially if it keeps Hotch away too."

"No he won't. He'll be disappointed sure but he isn't going to blame you. Hotch will explain things to him and kids have a way of understanding things that us adults tend to underestimate," Morgan told him, silently scolding himself for saying anything.

The two friends fell silent. The sounds form the news coverage filled the room, as the two FBI agents kept track of events at the scene where there colleagues were currently at.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Quantico, VA:**_

This street was normally fairly quiet at almost eight-thirty on a Saturday morning. This day, the day before Halloween, was not normal on that account. The fire was out, but the fire fighters and their equipment were still on scene. A lone ambulance and its paramedics were there too, treating a couple of firefighters who had suffered minor injuries. Several cop cruisers were on the scene, their occupants busy keeping the crowd behind the crime scene tape that had been put up to cordon off the area. Curious onlookers were still hanging around in neighboring yards and on the sidewalks. Two news vans from local stations were still on the scene, as well as several reporters from newspapers.

The media's interest wasn't focused on the activity near what was left of the house, as firefighters made their way through the area, searching for hot spots. Nor the three FBI agents who were walking the area, looking for any clues that might have survived the nights activities. At this point, every reporter and camera on scene was focused on the one agent that was giving them an official statement. Finishing saying what he had to say, SSA Aaron Hotchner told them that he would take a few questions.

"You said no one was at home at the time of the fire, does that mean the FBI knew there was a threat against Agent Morgan?" one of the TV reporters asked.

Despite the fact that he had not mentioned whose house it was, the media had managed to already get a hold of the name of the home owner on their own. It never ceased to amaze him how fast the media seemed to figure out things you didn't want them to know.

"I'm sorry but I cannot answer that question at this time," Hotch said, and immediately acknowledged one of the other reporters, nodding in their direction.

"Was this fire set on purpose?"

"As I said before, the fire department will have to conduct its investigation to determine the cause of the fire. Until that time any speculation on that topic would be premature."

"Is this incident connected with the incident involving the federal agent that is currently in the hospital?"

"At this time we have no evidence linking the two incidents," Hotch replied calmly, neither admitting or denying that there was a connection. It wasn't a lie. There was no physical evidence just a lot of speculation at this point.

"What about the reported shooting at the airport last night?"

~_These guys aren't missing a thing_,~ Hotch thought as he quickly decided what if anything he should say about the incident at the airport. He decided to go with saying as little as possible and bringing this impromptu press conference to an end.

"I'm not in the position to talk about that incident at this time. That's all the questions I can take at this time. Thank-you," Hotch told them and then stepped away from the gathered news reporters even as they kept trying to throw out some more questions.

Tuning them out, Hotch walked back to the house, ducking under the crime scene tape. He made his way to where Garcia was standing, holding both the camera she had been taking pictures with and the one Prentiss' had brought.

"This is deliberate, wasn't it?" Garcia asked her boss as he came to a stop beside her. "This psycho is really targeting my babies? Why? What they ever do to them?"

"We're going to catch him, Garcia," Hotch told her. "Why don't you head to the BAU and start getting those photos ready for us. We'll join you there shortly," Hotch told her, wanting to get the technical analyst out of the field and back with her computers where she was more comfortable. He knew how much seeing things like this scene upset her, though she always came when he asked.

"Yes, sir," Garcia replied, taking one last look at what once was Morgan's house. She felt a chill creep up her spine as she started walking toward her car, more than happy to get be able to retreat to her lair.

Hotch watched Garcia until she was safely in her car and then looked around for his other two agents. He spotted them both, walking side by side across the front lawn toward him.

"Find anything?" Hotch asked, as the three met up.

Both agents shook their head but only Rossi spoke up. "There's been so much activity on the scene that if there was any clues left by the UnSub, they've probably been covered up or destroyed. Figuring out where and what started the fire is best left up to the fire company."

Hotch nodded. He had figured as much, but still they had to be sure.

"Well, we do have the photos of the onlookers from last night. He wanted to draw Morgan here so chances are he was among them," Hotch told them. Before he could say anything else his cell phone rang. Taking it out, he recognized Strauss' number, which was the last person he wanted to speak to right then but he knew he couldn't dodge her call. "Agent Hotchner," he said, answering the phone.

"So, one of my agent's houses is set on fire, an agent that you requested protection for, and I have to find out about it from a news broadcast," Strauss said, starting right in on her tirade without the pleasantries of a greeting. "When were you going to inform me of this incident?"

"I didn't think you would appreciate a phone call at four in the morning. I was just getting ready to call you to inform you of the situation."

"And did you bother to call Agent Jackson when calling in the rest of your team. He is suppose to be helping you with this investigation, Agent Hotchner."

"No ma'am I did not. In the midst of everything, calling Agent Jackson completely slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind or you didn't want him at the scene?"

"With all due respect ma'am, I've got colleagues in danger. I welcome any help I can get to solve this case."

"Very well. Let me warn you Agent Hotchner, that if I so much as suspect you're deliberately leaving Agent Jackson out of the loop on this investigation there will be disciplinary action taken. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'll be in the office later this morning. I'll expect a full report from you on the progress made on this case then."

"I'll see you then ma'am," Hotch told her.

As soon as he had gotten the words out of his mouth he heard the distinct sound of the call being disconnected. If there was one thing he hated more than working on the weekend it was having to deal with Strauss on the weekend.

"Strauss?" Rossi asked, as Hotch put away his cell phone.

"Yeah," Hotch replied. "She's not too happy but I really don't think that waking her up to tell her what happened would have made her any happier."

"I take it she's coming in for a report?" Rossi guessed, having heard Hotch's part of the conversation. The BAU unit chief nodded. "Want me to handle it?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I think it'll be best if I do it. No point in giving her anymore ammunition. What I do need you to do for me thought is go to the hospital and see if you can get any information from Reid. He's still our only solid source of information at this point. Don't push

him though."

"Got it," Rossi said, a he turned to head to his car.

As Rossi walked away, Hotch turned to Prentiss. "I want you to stop by the hotel and pick up Gideon on your way in. Until we get something else to work with, those files are our best chance of finding something to go off of. With any luck, either Morgan or Gideon will remember something significant from a case that isn't in the files. I'll meet you at the office. I have a feeling I'm going to have one unhappy IA Agent waiting for me when I get there."

"Definitely like my task better than yours," Prentiss told him.

"I'm sure you do."

As Prentiss headed for her car, Hotch turned and looked for the fire chief. He wanted to touch base with him before heading for the BAU.

* * *

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

The sound of the room door opening caused Morgan to look up. He was expecting to see either a nurse or a doctor, but instead he saw a familiar blonde stride into the room. From the look on her face, Morgan knew he was in for a scolding before she even opened her mouth.

"You should have just stayed in Chicago. You were safe there. Not instead you come back and give this guy the opportunity to shoot at you. What if . . ." JJ trailed off, as she noticed Morgan gesturing to Reid who was sleeping. The blonde lowered her voice but continued, even as Morgan took some steps toward her. "Don't think you can use Spence to avoid my lecture Derek Morgan. What if that guy had hit you when he took a shot at you at the airport. You shouldn't be putting yourself in unnecessary danger. Hotch warned you to stay in Chicago until this situation was taken care of but you just couldn't listen, could you? No, you have to rush into things, without thinking, just like you always do. Who do you think you're trying to impress with your reckless heroic antics anyway?"

JJ stopped speaking, her eyes still full of fire as she stared unwaveringly at him.

"Are you done?" Morgan asked, not sure if she had finished or was just taking a breath.

"Don't patronize me."

"I'm not but I also know better than to try to explain something to you while you're trying to get your side across."

JJ folded her arms in front of her and stared at him.

Taking that as a sign she was waiting for him to speak, Morgan started talking. "I know you and the others are concerned for my safety but I had to come back. I couldn't stay in Chicago and hide."

"Because you have a death wish? That's the only logical reason I can come up with for you to come back to a city when there is evidence that someone is out to kill you!"

"No, I don't have a death wish. I don't plan on letting this guy get the best of me, but I also couldn't stay out of town and put my friends in the line of fire. He already hurt Reid," Morgan said, gesturing to the pale form of the injured agent in the bed, which was now beside him, "to get to me. I'm not going to let him hurt anyone else."

"And what if you had been at your house last night when he set it on fire?"

"He probably wouldn't have set it on fire then," Morgan replied. "Rossi thought the fire was a method to draw me to the house. If I had been there he probably would have tried to break in and try a more direct method."

JJ gave an exasperated sigh. "And that's suppose to make it better."

"No, I was just answering your question," Morgan answered calmly.

"Why can't you just once follow orders when someone is only trying to. . ."

"What orders have I not followed. I was never ordered to stay in Chicago. Hotch said he thought it would be in my best interests to remain in Chicago but he never ordered me too," Morgan interuppted her, pointing out the flaw in her latest argument. Over JJ's shoulder, he noticed the door crack open.

Franklin, who had apparently returned from his overnight break and relieved the agent who had been in the hallway during the night, stuck his head into the room. "Is there a problem here?" the burly agent asked, looking first at JJ and then at Morgan. Seeing him, both JJ and Morgan realized they had left their voices raise higher than they intended to.

"No!" JJ snapped, whirling toward the door.

With a quick nod, and a 'you're on your own,' look at Morgan, Franklin quickly disappeared back into the hallway. The door made a soft click in the now silent room.

"And if Hotch had ordered you to stay in Chicago, would you have?" JJ demanded, lowering her voice once again to an angry whisper.

Morgan didn't get a chance to answer the question with the answer he knew that JJ wouldn't have liked. Instead, another voice interjected themself into the conversation.

"I thought my headache was fading away but listening to the two of you is making it come back," Reid told them. JJ and Morgan both turned to see that Reid now had his eyes opened. Both agents looked guiltily at each other as Reid continued. "No one on this team would voluntarily stay someplace safe if they thought any of the rest of us were in danger. You should know that JJ, you're still one of us in spirit."

Reid's words both smothered the fire in her and calmed her. Morgan, relieved to be spared more of JJ's lecture, motivated by concern for his safety or not, walked back over to the bed.

"I'm going to leave you in the care of JJ's very capable hands and go help the others catch this creep," Morgan told him, resting a hand on Reid's shoulder.

"We'll be fine," Reid assured him.

"Someone will be by to ask you questions later if you're feeling up to it. Don't feel pressured to answer though. If you're not ready, just let us know. We'll understand."

"I need to talk about it. I might remember something that could be important to the case and this guy needs to be caught, before he hurts anyone else. It's the only way I can help right now."

Morgan gave Reid's shoulder a slight squeeze. He knew exactly how Reid was feeling and new that when Hotch or whoever he sent to do the interview showed up, the team's youngest agent would do his best to answer all the questions.

Morgan turned from the bed to find himself face to face with JJ. She held out a packaging envelope to him. Morgan took it from her, noticing there was no writing on the outside of it as he did so. From the shape and weight of it, Morgan was guessing there was a tape inside.

"Give this to Hotch, for me. It's the footage channel six news' camera man captured at the fire last night. It's my contribution to the case."

"Got it," Morgan said, and was starting to walk by her when JJ put her arms around him and gave him a hug.

"Be careful," she told him, taking a step back.

"I will be," he replied, and with a quick wave with the hand holding the envelope he turned, and left the room.

As expected, Franklin was waiting across the hall from the door way. The taller agent fell in step beside Morgan as he headed for the elevator.

"I thought you were suppose to be protecting me," Morgan said lightly. "You sure made a quick exit back there."

"I was told to protect you from the UnSub," Franklin replied. "Not blonde tornados. Those, you get to handle on your own."

"Sometimes, I think I'd rather deal with the UnSub than JJ," Morgan replied, as he stepped onto the elevator.

* * *

_**En route to the BAU**_:

Prentiss kept her eyes focused on the road in front of her, paying attention to the other cars on the road and not the man that was sitting next to her in the passenger sheet. Other than to tell him that Hotch had sent her to pick him up, the dark-haired agent hadn't said anything to Jason Gideon. She hadn't even volunteered to bring him up to speed on the case, as she assumed that giving the events at the time of the former agent's arrival, Rossi hadn't had a chance to give him all the details.

For his part, Gideon hadn't offered many words himself. But then again, he never had been a man of many words, Prentiss reasoned with herself. That wasn't something she should have expected to change over the past three years.

She remembered the first case she had helped Gideon with. He had reluctantly taken her to Guantanamo Bay with him, showing very little faith in her abilities at the beginning. She had tried hard to show him that she knew what she was doing. That she could contribute to the team. By the time they had left Cuba, she had felt she had gained some support from the older profiler. Support that she had felt had changed to respect just before Gideon's impromptu retirement.

Prentiss had looked up to Gideon in a way. Had learned a lot from him in the short-time she had worked with him and had looked forward to continuing to work under him. She felt that there was a lot she could learn from the seasoned agent and profiler. She had been disappointed when he had left. Disappointed and hurt. Through all the various postings and agents she had worked with during her years in the FBI, she had never let herself get close to any of them. They were colleagues. She respected their abilities. Trusted them to have her back in the field but that was as far as it went. It hadn't taken her long to realize that being part of this BAU team was something different altogether and for the first time, Prentiss found herself wanting to be not only respected professionally but accepted. She knew that was why Gideon's departure had hit her so hard.

Prentiss thought she understood why Gideon had left and at one time had often wondered if he had found what he had been searching for. It had been awhile since she had those thoughts and now that he was back, there was a part of her that didn't want him back in her life. They had all moved on without him, and had done fairly well. Still, she wondered?

"Why Oklahoma?" Prentiss asked, eyes still on the road in front of her.

"Pardon me?" Gideon said, taken by surprised by the sudden break in the silence.

"Why did you end up staying in Oklahoma? What was there for you?"

"At the beginning, nothing. Maybe that's why I stayed. I left searching for a part of myself that doing this job had taken away. Left searching for some kind of spark of a hope in humanity. When I got to Gracemont, here was this small, nothing going for it town, in the middle of nowhere who were more than willing to accept a absolute stranger into their midst. They didn't ask questions about my past only wanted to know me as I was then. I figured I'd stay a couple of days, and then that turned into a week, then two weeks until eventually I just decided to stay."

"Did you find what you left searching for?"

Gideon paused, thinking over her question. "Yes and No. I never did find the part of me that I had lost but I did find myself again, if you can understand what I mean by that."

Prentiss nodded. "I think I can." They rode in silence for awhile, and then she spoke again. "Were you ever going to bother to contact the rest of us? Did you even care what had become of us?"

"I thought of all of you over the years. Even followed some of the team's accomplishments in the news. Didn't take me long to realize you were all doing just fine without me. I eventually felt that I had no right to come back into your lives even if you all wanted me."

"But you contacted, Reid."

"I guess deep down part of me couldn't let go," Gideon responded.

It wasn't the answer Prentiss had expected. She wasn't even sure that she knew what it meant exactly. Turning onto the marine base where the BAU was located, she decided to let the question session go for now. They had a case to solve right then. Figuring out her feelings surrounding Gideon and his sudden re-emergence in their lives could be put off until later. For all she knew, the older gentleman might plan on disappearing right back out of their lives following this case.

For now, she'd keep her distance. Concentrate on the case. If Gideon planned on waltzing back out just like he had before, she wanted to keep enough emotional distance so that she wouldn't get hurt again.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Well, after a couple rough nights at work, a bout with writer's block and a computer virus, I finally have an update ready. Hope everyone enjoys it.

* * *

_**BAU, Quantico, VA:**_

After Gideon and Jackson had been brought up to speed on the case, both of them and Prentiss reached for case files to renew the search that had been abandoned the night before. Hotch stood, and headed for the door of conference room. Before he started going through files himself, he wanted to check in with Garcia and see if Lynch had shown up yet. Even with Garcia at the office and not the hospital today, Hotch had every intention of keeping Lynch involved in this case. He wasn't about to turn away a good resource and Lynch was definitely showing more engagement in this case then Jackson was.

Hotch glanced over his shoulder at the table where the others were sitting. Prentiss and Gideon were both focused on their task. Agent Jackson, though he had a file open, seemed to only be idly looking through it. The IA agent had been told specifically what to look for in the file, but Hotch wondered how much help he was really going to be. As he started in the direction of Garcia's office, the unit chief tried to think of a way to surreptitiously double check any files that Jackson looked through.

Hearing the elevator door open, Hotch paused in mid-stepped and glanced in that direction. Being a Saturday, he didn't expect many people besides them to show up. Through the opened doors, Technical Analyst Kevin Lynch stepped onto the floor. Spotting Hotch, the techie headed in his direction.

"I'm sorry I'm late, sir. I slept through my alarm clock," Lynch said as he reached the BAU unit chief.

"It's okay. This morning hasn't gone at all as planned," Hotch told him. "Come with me. I've got a task you and Garcia can work on together."

Kevin Lynch nodded and then fell in step with the profiler as they headed for Garcia's office. The door was open, and upon reaching it, Hotch knocked on the doorframe as he entered to announce his presence.

"I was just about to bring you the pictures, sir," Garcia said, as she glanced over her shoulder at him. She had the stack of photos that had been printed out in her hands. Turning in her chair she held them out to him.

"Good work, Garcia," he said as she took the pictures from her. "Hopefully, we can get a clue from these pictures. Right now we don't have a whole lot to go on."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Garcia asked, anxious to do anything to help out.

"Yes. I need you to try to ID the people in these photos and then cross check addresses."

"Look for people who don't live in the area," Garcia added, catching on to her boss' train of thought.

"Exactly," Hotch said. "Our UnSub wouldn't be from Morgan's neighborhood. If he was then he wouldn't have needed to go through the trouble of locating his address. Have Lynch help you. Strauss let me bring him in on this case and I don't plan on giving up any valuable resources that I don't have to."

"Yes, sir. I'll let you know what I find just as soon as I find it," Garcia replied.

"So how do you want to go about this?" Kevin asked, stepping past Hotch to stand just behind Garcia as she swivelled her chair to face her monitors. This was her office, her team and her system and because of that, Kevin was more then happy to let her take charge. If their positions were reversed he would expect no less from her.

Leaving the two techs to their new tasks, Hotch stepped from the office and headed toward the conference room. He spotted Morgan coming from the direction of the elevators. Once again, Hotch noticed Franklin walking a few steps behind the other profiler as the unit chief paused outside the closed door of the conference room, waiting for the other agent.

"Is it as bad as it looked on TV," Morgan asked.

Hotch knew what his agent was referring to, and as much as he hated being the bearer of bad news, new sugar coating things wasn't the answer. "Probably," Hotch said, not having seen any of the news coverage. "The house is pretty much gone and I doubt they'll be able to salvage much from the debris," he told him. He paused, letting Morgan process the information before continued. "We'll all help you out any way we can," Hotch told him, referring to the rest of the team. "And if you need a place to stay, I can only offer you a couch, but its yours if you need it."

Morgan nodded. Right now the loss of his house and possessions was the last thing he wanted to dwell on. All he wanted to do was find the bastard who had done this. Who had put Reid in the hospital. Not only did he want to catch him, but he wouldn't mind a few minutes alone with him.

"For now, let's just concentrate on finding this guy," Morgan said, knowing that for now he wouldn't take up any of his teammates offers to put him up. He wasn't about to put anyone else in danger, especially not Hotch and Jack. Remembering the envelope in his hand, he held it out to his boss. "JJ sent this. It's the footage shot by the channel six camera guy at the fire."

"Nice going, JJ," Hotch said softly as he took the envelope from Morgan.

"Think it'll have any clues."

"Let's hope so, because that's one thing we seem to be short on right about now," Hotch said, opening the envelope and taking out the tape. A blue post-it had been stuck to it and Hotch found himself feeling amused by words written on it - 'Don't forget I can still be a valuable asset'. It wasn't signed but then it didn't need to be as he wasn't on friendly terms with any personnel at the channel six news.

Hotch took the last few steps toward the door, and grasped the door knob. Turning it, he pushed the door open and stepped into the room, Morgan behind him. As he had the night before, Franklin took up position outside of the room.

"Prentiss," Hotch said as he walked over to the table. The female agent glanced up from the file she had opened in front of her. "I want you to help Morgan go through these photos, see if we can find anyone who doesn't seem like just a typical onlooker."

Prentiss nodded setting the file aside as Morgan walked over to the table and took a seat next to her. Hotch handed the photos to her, even as he addressed Morgan. "I've got Garcia getting identities and checking addresses on everyone but if you see anyone that you know isn't from the neighborhood pay particular attention to them."

Morgan nodded as Hotch reclaimed his seat and picked up one of the files he had left there when he went to visit Garcia.

The group worked in silence for a few minutes before Jackson spoke up.

"There has got to be a better way to go about this. Looking through files and at photos of people watching a house burn. What's that going to tell you? You guys really don't do any real police work do you?" Agent Jackson said, as he let the file he was holding fall to the table.

"Excuse me?" Hotch asked, trying to keep his voice even. He was aware of Prentiss, Morgan and Gideon all looking at the agent from IA.

"It's been said that everything that goes on in the BAU is a bunch of guess work. From what I've seen, that's about right."

"Well, the fact that we found evidence at the crime scene yesterday that the local crime scene unit missed, the evidence of forced entry to be exact, shows a bit more than guesswork if you ask me," Prentiss said.

"Can you prove the locks were broken by someone trying to enter and haven't been broken for awhile now?"

"You're a FBI Agent Jackson," Prentiss said. "Tell me, if you knew the locks on your window were broken wouldn't you get them fixed knowing that they're leaving you vulnerable."

"Again that's speculation not fact."

"If you have any better ideas on how we should proceed, I'd be happy to hear them," Hotch said, trying to diffuse the situation before it got out of control. He didn't like Jackson being here any more than the rest of his team, but for now at least, they were stuck with him. There was no need to make a bad situation worse.

"The way I see it, you guys have only one valid source of information, Agent Reid. Instead of grasping at straws why don't you actually find out what he knows or maybe you just don't want to admit that this is," Jackson waved his hands at the files and photos on the table, "is all just some wild goose chase. That you're never going to find this UnSub because he didn't exist in the first place."

"I don't think I like what your insinuating," Morgan said, a hard edge to his voice. His body tensed up but he forced himself to remain seated in his chair. As much as he'd like to get his hands on the IA agent, he knew that it probably wouldn't be good for his career.

Jackson looked directly at Morgan when he spoke. "I'm not insinuating anything that hasn't been circulating around here. There's been plenty of talk for the past four years that Reid hasn't been quite right since his ordeal down in Georgia. That the only reason he's still in the field is that he knows all the right things to say."

Morgan pushed his chair back and sprung to his feet. Beside him, Prentiss grabbed his arm, freezing the words he was about to say to the other agent. For his part, Jackson had pushed his chair slightly back from the table when the dark-skinned agent had gotten to his feet.

"Hit a nerve, did I?"

"There is evidence that supports this line of investigation," Prentiss said, her voice icy but calm.

"So you say."

"As does Dr. Caprelli at Georgetown University Hospital," Hotch said, speaking up. He knew he had to get a handle on the situation. He also had a feeling he knew why Strauss had assigned an IA agent to work this case. Apparently Strauss wasn't as much of a supporter to Rossi's theory as she was letting on. Either that, or she was looking for some way to use this situation to her advantage. Hotch looked at Morgan, silently telling the agent to sit down. Morgan complied as Hotch continued to address Jackson. "As for questioning Dr. Reid," Hotch continued, putting emphasis on the agent's title, "Agent Rossi is at the hospital right now doing just that."

"Are you purposely trying to hide things and keep me out of the loop again?"

"No, I'm not. Agent Rossi isn't here, now the logical conclusion is that he's off doing something connected with the case. The only one in this room that has been told that Rossi is at the hospital interviewing Reid is Agent Prentiss, who was there when I gave him the order, though I'm sure both Morgan and Gideon had assumed that's where he is at. When Agent Rossi returned from his task, you would have been included in the debriefing just like everyone else."

"Certain people might have thought it prudent to include someone outside of the team in on the interview, to avoid people saying that you are covering something up."

"People can say whatever they want. We're all professionals on this team and what we want is to find out the truth about what happened. As for including you in the interview, I wouldn't have done it even if Strauss had suggested it. Granted, you may have experience conducting interviews concerning incidents that happen within the bureau is something entirely different from questioning a victim of a violent crime. I know, I've been on the receiving end of your type of interviews several times over the course of my career, and if you use those methods on a victim you're not going to get anywhere. Agent Rossi knows just what he's doing in this situation."

Though he wanted to deny Jackson's jab about people saying they might cover something up, Hotch felt the best thing to do would be to ignore it. The less said the better, especially when there was an agent from internal affairs involved.

"Now, unless anyone has any other productive suggestions on how we might be able to proceed, I suggest we all get to work," Hotch said.

With one last glare at Jackson, Morgan and Prentiss started in on the pile of pictures, looking for someone who didn't seem like the normal onlooker. Gideon, who had watched the whole scene unfold by looking over the top of the file he had open, went back to the file. Jackson slowly took another file from the pile and opened it. Seeing that everyone else was working Hotch grabbed a file himself.

The quicker they solved this mess, the quicker they could get rid of Jackson.

* * *

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Stepping off the elevator, Agent David Rossi made his way down the hallway to his colleagues room. Reaching it, he knocked softly on the door before opening it. Walking into the room, JJ glanced quickly over her shoulder as she finished the task of flipping Reid's pillow in an attempt to make the young genius more comfortable. Rossi smiled at the sight. Morgan often joked about JJ mothering Reid and it was at times like this, that it was obvious to the old profiler just how that got started.

"Well, you've got more color to you today than yesterday," Rossi commented, as he walked across the room toward Reid. "Feeling any better."

"Some," Reid replied. "They still won't tell me when they're going to spring me from this place though. I guess you're here to ask me questions about what happened."

Rossi nodded. "Only if you feel up to it though."

"Let's get it over with, though things still seem jumbled up."

"Well, let's see if I can help you sort things out," Rossi said calmly. He glanced briefly at JJ, toying with the idea of asking her to leave and then deciding against it. He had a feeling the suggestion wouldn't go very far. Her presence might have also put Reid more at ease. To his surprise though, Reid did make the suggestion.

"JJ why don't you go grab yourself some coffee or something," Reid said, switching his gaze from Rossi to the blonde still standing next to the bedside. He noticed the look of hurt that passed briefly over her face. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her but he also didn't want to talk about the incident with her in the room. What he did remember, Reid knew would upset and anger her. He wanted to spare her that much. "Please," he said quietly, urging her to understand with the silent words that passed between them.

JJ hesitated. She wanted to do what was best for Reid. As much as she wanted to be there for her friend, if he would rather her not be in the room while Rossi was interviewing him, then she could at least do that much. The blonde nodded slightly. "I'll leave if you prefer, but I'm not going far. I'll be right out in the hallway if you change your mind."

"Thanks," Reid told her sincerely, as JJ patted his shoulder before turning to head out the door Rossi had just came through.

"She could have stayed if you had preferred," Rossi commented, as the door shut with a soft click.

"She doesn't need to hear the details about what happened," Reid reply. "I can spare her that much at least."

Rossi nodded. Given Reid's statement to him the night before about being glad that he had been the one to find Reid, the older profiler knew he should have expected that sentiment. "Are you ready to begin?" Rossi asked.

Reid nodded ever so slightly, the movement not hurting as much as it had the previous evening.

Rossi moved one of the chairs to a position where he could face Reid during the conversation from a sitting position. He wanted to put the younger agent at ease as much as possible and Rossi knew that hovering over him wasn't the way to go. As he settled back in the uncomfortable chair, he pulled a notepad and pen from his jacket pocket. Reid might have an eidetic memory, but he certainly did not.

"Why don't we start at the beginning. It was a Friday, so you would have been getting ready for work but you didn't have your gun on you at the time."

"No, I hadn't taken the gun out of the drawer I keep it in when I'm at home. I had finished eating breakfast, and I took the dishes to the kitchen. I put them in the sink and turned to go get the gun. When I turned I saw him standing there."

"Who was standing where?"

"I don't know who he was. He seemed familiar, like maybe I had seen him somewhere but I'm not sure," Reid replied, glancing away from Rossi and up toward the ceiling. "He was standing just outside the bedroom door."

"Can you tell me what the guy looked liked?" Rossi asked.

The room was silent as Reid thought about it, trying to recall what the guy looked like. As hard as he tried though, the memory was hazy. No matter how hard he tried he could picture the guy's face.

"He was taller than me, broad shouldered, with an athletic build."

"That's good," Rossi said, scribbling notes in the notepad. It wasn't much to work with but it was a start. "Anything thing else? Hair color and length?"

"His hair was a darker color and cut short," Reid said, he closed his eyes, trying to remember the guy who had attacked him. He could remember the guy standing there, blocking the only way to his weapon and between him and the door. He would have had to get past him to leave the apartment Past him without getting caught. Reid remembered looking at the guy. "He stood there, I could tell he was waiting to see what kind of move I was going to make."

Reid paused again. There was something about the guy's face. Something that had stood out. What was it? What was it that had caught his attention as he stood trying to figure out what his next move should be. And then it came to him. "There was a scar on his right cheek."

Rossi felt like the scar was significant. Of course it was a significant feature to identify the guy with but he felt like there was something more to it. Try as he may though, he couldn't put his finger on why. Pushing the thought aside for the moment, Rossi focused on the interview.

"Okay, let's move past what the guy looked like. Who made the first move?"

Once again their was a moment of silence as Reid tried to recall the events. He remembered the guy grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back, but he was pretty sure that was later. There was more there. How did he get from the kitchen out to the living room with the guy? Why had he handed the guy his address book and was that before or after the other incident?

"I don't know. It's a jumble of events. I can't seem to put them in the correct order," Reid said, clenching both hands into fists but didn't move them from where he hand his hands resting at his sides on the bed.

Rossi noted the movement. Could hear the frustration and a touch of fear in the other agent's voice.

"Okay, I want you to take a deep breath and let it out slowly," Rossi instructed, trying to calm the younger man down.

"Why can't I remember?" Reid asked, ignoring Rossi's instructions.

"Reid, listen to me. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly," Rossi said, trying once more to use the relaxation method. Letting the events of the day before get to him wasn't going to be good for any of them, least of all Reid.

Reid finally did as he was instructed. Rossi instructed him to repeat the process, having a feeling that this interview was going to take a little longer than he had imagined. Still, even if they only gathered on piece of information that helped them with this case it would be useful.

After several breaths, Reid's hands relaxed. His breathing became more regular and Rossi started in on the interview again. Carefully, he reset the scene for Reid, trying not to lead him on but trying to guide him to be the right place. To keep him focused on the events he was trying to recall.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: For those of you who have been patiently awaiting, details about the UnSub start to finally be revealed in this chapter. I'd like to thank cassibill for helping me come up with some details surrounding the original case that Morgan and Gideon was involved in. She provided me with a initial scenario and I tweaked the original idea a little. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

_**BAU, Quantico, VA:**_

The moment Agent Hotchner had left the room to go talk with Strauss, Agent Jackson had given up even the pretense of looking through any of the files. The agent from Internal Affairs was currently sitting at the table, cell phone out, checking his email messages. Around him, the others in the room were still working. Gideon, steadily going through past files. Reliving past horrors of a life he had thought he had finally been able to leave behind. Prentiss and Morgan had gone through the photos, finding no one that stood out. The two were now currently going through the footage from the news crew that JJ had gotten for them.

Morgan hit the pause button. "This is getting nowhere. I don't see anyone who seems like they're out of place or are doing anything suspicious," he said, tossing the remote lightly down on the table.

"Maybe we just missed something," Prentiss said, reaching for the remote, and ignoring the look that Morgan was giving her.

"The only thing we haven't done is go through that tape, frame by frame," Morgan told her collapsing in a chair. The lack of sleep in the last couple of days was starting to get to him, especially as most of the sleep he had managed to get had been in unconventional positions.

"And let me guess, that's what you're going to be doing next. Wasting more time," Jackson commented, not looking up from his phone.

"If you don't want to help us, fine, we don't need you but don't hinder this investigation," Morgan shot at him.

"I'm not hindering anything," Jackson stated, still not looking anywhere other than the phone that he held in his hand.

"Why are you here, Jackson?"

"Morgan, don't," Prentiss said softly, wishing that Hotch was in the room. Morgan looked away from Jackson and toward his dark-haired co-worker. "It won't help anything," she said.

Morgan nodded, then reached out for a file as Prentiss went back to the footage on the screen. He flipped it open as he heard footsteps. Looking toward the door, Morgan saw Penelope coming into the room.

"Got anything?" Morgan asked.

The colorfully dressed technical analyst shook her head. "I don't think so. The only one in the pictures that doesn't live in the area is a fourteen year old girl, Madeline Marks."

"She's staying with her Aunt and Uncle. Her parents are going through a bad spot in their marriage and don't want her in the house right now," Morgan said.

Garcia nodded. "I even ran names against current and recent former students at Georgetown University and didn't find anything. Does that mean this guy wasn't on the scene."

"Not necessarily," Morgan replied. "It just means that he was smart enough to stay out of sight."

"Have you guys found anything?" Garcia asked, letting a trace of hope come through in her voice.

Her question was met with silence, though both Morgan and Prentiss shook their head in a negative reply.

"Maybe we're looking at this wrong," Gideon said, looking up from the file he was holding. All eyes in the room turned to their former colleague. "We're operating under the assumption that we're looking for someone related to a former UnSub."

"And?" Morgan said, gazing straight at his former colleague, his gaze not wavering for a moment. "I don't know about you but outside of this job, I can't think of anyone I might have made mad enough that they would want to kill me. And just why did you come back, Gideon?"

"That isn't important right now," Gideon told him, and was about to continue with his suggestion when Morgan spoke up, stopping him from continuing.

"Isn't important. You walked out on this team three years ago without any warning. Just up and left but you know what, we banded together and moved on without you. So I ask you again, why did you suddenly decide to come back?"

"I came back because I was told there was evidence that someone might be looking for me. Someone who might possibly harm my family and who had apparently already put someone who is important to me in the hospital. I can't sit by idly while people I care about are at risk because of me."

"So you're trying to tell me you came back to help protect us? Protect Reid? As far as I'm concerned you forfeited that right when you left because where it might not of affected me much, I saw what it did to Reid. That I can't forgive."

Gideon nodded, his face passive. "If that's how you feel, its certainly your prerogative. It doesn't change the fact that I'm going to do everything I can to help solve this case and with you being the professional that I know you to be, you're going to accept my help no matter what your personal feelings are toward me." Gideon paused, his gaze still locked with Morgan's. "Is there anything else you would like to say?"

"Not right now," Morgan replied.

"Well, then as I was saying, we've been looking for someone with a connection to an UnSub from one of these cases. The people we come in contact with during a case isn't limited to just the UnSub though. Sometimes the clues lead us to the wrong places."

"So you're saying that our current UnSub might have been someone whose life was influenced by the original case though they weren't directly involved in it," Prentiss said, catching onto what Gideon was getting at.

"Exactly."

"If that's the case, these files might not even help us with a name at all then," Morgan commented, gesturing to the files still in piles on the table. "Even if they were a suspect in the case, and the name is listed, we won't have detailed information on them."

"You give me the name and I'll get you whatever names you want," Garcia piped in.

"So you plan on doing what? Searching through the files once again?" Jackson asked, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

"That might not be necessary," Agent Hotchner said, speaking from his spot in the doorway. He had entered the room just when Morgan had asked Gideon why he had come back. The Unit Chief had remained quiet, knowing that each of his agent's had to deal with Gideon's presence in their own way. He had figured it was better that the two of them got things out in the open, now, in a controlled environment than letting it come to head while out in the field. "If he's out for revenge, the case would have had to have a profound effect on him. If he was a suspect in the original case, then there was some kind of fallout because of it, which means it was someone that was brought in for more than routine questioning. Otherwise, we could still be looking at someone whose parent got caught up in the case, might have been injured or even killed."

"Someone who was isn't but got caught up in the crossfire," Prentiss ventured.

"Exactly," Hotch said, as he moved away from the doorway and further into the room. He looked first at Gideon and then at Morgan. "Any cases come to mind for either of you."

Both agents seriously considered the question, thinking about past cases. Trying to recall something that stood out. Some incident that both of them had been present for. The room was quiet for awhile, the others giving Morgan and Gideon time to think. It was Morgan who finally spoke up.

"There was a case in West Virginia, I don't remember the name of the town. We were working with ICE, who had tracked part of a human trafficking ring that far. The garage came up as a connection between several of the victims. Gideon and I went with one of the local detective to talk to the owner of one of the local garages. The guy panicked as soon as we showed him our badges, grabbed the detective, held him hostage with . . . " Morgan paused trying to recall what it was the garage owner had used as a weapon. "Do you remember what it was?" Morgan asked, with a glance at Gideon

Gideon paused, trying to recall the case Morgan had mentioned. "It was a drill. The guy had it to the detective's head, threatening to put the bit through his head if we didn't back off."

"What did you guys do?" Prentiss asked.

"I kept talking to him, trying to keep him focused on me. Morgan had gone around the back of the garage when we had arrived on scene. By keeping the garage owner focused on me, Morgan was able to slip in behind him."

"I shot him when the guy turned the drill on. I wasn't about to take the chance that the guy wouldn't carry out his threat."

"I remember now," Hotch said. "Turned out the garage was a cover for a chop shop. The owner panicked when he saw you guys, thinking he was going down for the cars. Family of the garage owner filed a wrongful death suit following the incident. Did the guy have any children?"

"A son," Gideon said. "The kid was at the garage that day. He was fifteen or sixteen at the time."

"Name?" Garcia asked, more than ready to head back to her computer and actually dig up some information that would end this whole ordeal.

Gideon, Morgan and Hotch all looked at each other. None of them could remember a name.

"Would the case file have the guy's name?" Prentiss asked, reaching for some files to start looking for the case in question.

"I might have a quicker way. The original case took place in West Virginia you said?" Garcia said, glancing at Morgan. When she saw him nod an affirmative, she continued. "Town?" she asked looking at Gideon and the Hotch, as Morgan had already said he couldn't recall the town name. Gideon was wearing a blank look on his face and Hotch shook his head no. "No matter. I might still be able to locate the record of the lawsuit, we just need to narrow down the time frame."

"Reid was with us at the time," Hotch said. "He and I had gone to question someone else with one of the ICE agents."

"Right," Morgan confirmed. "It was also before Garcia joined us. I remember that because I remember talking to Nichols about the wrongful death suit, both before and after it had taken place as he had gone through one before," he said, Nichols having been the agent who had filled Garcia's position before she had joined the BAU.

"Okay, still a bit of a gap but it'll do. Let me go work some magic and I'll get back to you," Garcia said, turning to head for the door to the room. She was in such a hurry that she ran into Agent Rossi, who just happened to be arriving. "I'm so sorry, sir."

"It's alright. You okay?" Rossi asked the tech.

"Yeah, I was just off to do something. I sometimes get tunnel vision you know," Garcia told him, as she slipped past him and out of the room, hurrying to the relative safety of her lair.

As the tech disappeared, Agent Rossi looked at the others in the room. "You guys find something to go off of?"

"Possibly," Hotch replied. "Were you able to talk to Reid? Does he recall what happened?"

"Yeah, I talked to him. He was able to give me some information. He's still having trouble remembering everything that took place. Even trying to talk him through what happened didn't help him recall everything, which has got him pretty shook up."

"I can imagine. Not being able to remember something that took place can be disconcerting for anyone but with someone with a memory like Reid's, who recalls just about everything, it has to be even more so," Hotch commented.

"I talked to Dr. Caprelli before leaving the hospital," Rossi said. "The doctor informed me that due to the head injury, its likely that the rest of the memories won't come back. The good news is, that the CT scan this morning showed no new bleeding and no swelling of the brain. Memory loss seems to be limited to the events surrounding the attack and speech and motor skills don't seem to have been impaired."

"That's the first bit a good news that we've had in awhile," Prentiss said, not even bothering to hide the relief in her voice.

Rossi nodded as he continued. "Reid was able to confirm what Prentiss and I had already figured out about how the UnSub entered the apartment and most of what went on while he was there," Rossi replied.

Those of the group that were standing found seats, as Rossi began to relay what he had learned from the interview. The veteran profiler filled them in on Reid's description of what he could recall about the attack in the apartment. "Reid said the guy was wearing a grey sweat shirt and sweat pants with a logo on it but couldn't recall the logo."

"So the material we found on the fire escape could have come from his clothing," Prentiss said.

Rossi nodded. "The description Reid gave wasn't very good. He said the guy was taller than him, broad-shouldered, athletic build with short, dark color hair."

"Oh that should be helpful. You managed to eliminate skinny, light colored hair guys. Should be real helpful," Jackson commented.

"Do you have somewhere else you would rather be?" Rossi asked, looking across the table and fixing Jackson with a piercing stare.

"Yes I do. This isn't how I planned on spending my Saturday."

"You think any of us did?" Rossi replied. "Though feel free to go. None of us will miss you." Jackson stared at the profiler for a few moments before diverting his eyes to the table in front of him. "There was one more thing that Reid gave for the description. He said that the guy who attacked him in his apartment had a scar on . . ."

Rossi trailed off as it finally hit him what it was that had struck him as familiar since Reid had first mentioned the scar. The guy leaving the elevator behind the woman and the baby stroller. Rossi had noted the scar on the guy's write cheek and the guy's athletic build, remembering that he had likened it to that of a heavy-weight class wrestler at the time. What had the guy been wearing?

"Dave?" Hotch asked, when the other agent didn't continue.

"I saw the guy," Rossi said. "I saw this guy leaving the apartment building when I was heading up to Reid's apartment. If I had taken you seriously at first instead of making jokes about the situation, or had driven a little faster to Reid's building. No, I had to make light of the situation and take my time and I missed this guy by mere minutes. I might have been able to avoid all of this."

"This isn't your fault, Dave," Hotch told the older agent. "There was no indication that I wasn't just over reacting. It will do no one any good dwelling on what might of happen. Let's concentrate on what we do know."

"Right and now we know that he left the building through conventional methods. Perhaps someone else in the building saw the guy leaving," Morgan said. "Can you give us a better description of the guy."

"I think so. If I saw a picture of the guy, I know I'd recognize him again."

Before anyone else could say anything, Franklin rushed into the room, immediately putting himself between Morgan and the windows. The agent has his gun drawn as he addressed those in the room. "Everyone get down and move out of the room, away from the windows.'

Reacting instinctively, all the agents did as Franklin had ordered and moved out of their chairs, crouching on the ground. Jackson was already heading for the door of the room, not asking questions, as Hotch started silently ordering the others to leave the room before him. Rossi, who had been closest to the door, was right behind Jackson. Gideon followed, keeping low as he moved. Beside Morgan, Prentiss moved underneath the table, coming out on the other side in front of Hotch as Morgan moved around the table. Franklin, dividing his attention between the windows and the agent he had been charged with protecting, followed Morgan's movements.

Within a minute of Franklin bursting into the room, they were all out on the walkway circling the bullpen area. In a crouch, Franklin was in the doorway of the conference room, keeping watch on the window.

"Care to explain . . . " Hotch began to ask but was cut of by the sound of breaking glass.

"Down in the bullpen area, now!"Franklin said, pulling the door shut and moving in that direction himself.

Climbing either over the railings or through them, Rossi, Hotch, Gideon, Jackson, Prentiss and Morgan all did as ordered. Franklin was just lowering himself to the ground as an explosion came from the room they had all been in moments before.

* * *

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

"How's Henry?" JJ asked, her voice low as she stood by the window of Reid's hospital room, cell phone held to her ear.

"Eating lunch," Will replied. "Though maybe playing with lunch might be more accurate," he added in his New Orleans draw.

JJ smiled, easily able to picture the sight of her little boy trying to eat lunch by himself. Henry had a stubborn streak and insisted on feeding himself now, though sometimes the little boy did more playing than eating.

"_Stubborn, just like his mama," _was Will's usual comment when Henry refused help from his parents. Both Will and JJ knew the little boy was going to be very independent and quite a handful as he grew up.

"How is Spencer?" Will asked. Though he missed JJ, he wasn't about to suggest she come home knowing what her answer would be, especially if no one else was there at the hospital.

"He's sleeping right now," JJ replied, looking over her shoulder at the sleeping form of her friend. "The interview with Rossi wore him out."

"Was he able to remember what happened?"

"Rossi said he remembered some of it though not everything that happened," JJ replied, recalling what her former colleague had told her when he had left the hospital room. He had refused to give her details though. "I don't know any details though as Spence had asked me to leave while Rossi questioned him."

"He was just trying to protect you," Will told her, hearing the trace of hurt in her voice.

"I know, but I just want to be there for him, Will. Help him through this."

"And you are, sweetie," Will told her. "You don't need to know details to do that. Let Spencer have the comfort of knowing that he spared you from that and just support him as he recovers. You're there with him now, and I know that means a lot to him."

"I feel guilty that being here means I can't be with you and Henry."

"Don't worry about us. We're fine right now. Just try to make it home this evening. I really don't want to face your parents by myself this evening."

"I forgot they were coming down for a visit," JJ said, running her free hand through her hair. Since Henry had been born, her parents had come seen her more often. She knew it was more to see their grandson then her, as visiting hadn't been on their list of priorities before Henry's birth. She wasn't about to say anything though. No matter what problems she had with her parents he son deserved to have at least one pair of doting grandparents. "I'll have to see if Garcia can come stay with him."

"Okay," Will said. "I'll make sure the house is ready for their visit and get dinner tonight. Don't worry about anything here, Mon Cherie, I'll take care of it."

"I love you."

"Right back at you," Will said before ending the call.

JJ flipped her cell shut and walked back over to the bedside. Standing there, she satisfied herself that Reid was still resting comfortably, watching him for a few moments. Convinced that he was okay, she sat down in the chair, shifting a few times, trying to find a semi-comfortable position. She then reached for the remote, and turned the tv on, keeping the volume down low.

JJ flipped through the stations, trying to find something to occupy her attention. A news broadcast on one of the station caused her to sit up straighter in the chair and lean slightly forward.

On the TV, a news reporter stood outside one of the gates of the Quantico Marine Corps Base. Along the bottom of the screen was the headline - "Explosion at FBI building on Quantico Base."

JJ listened as the reporter talked.

"To recap, an explosion has been reported at the building housing the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit on the Quantico Marine Corps Base. No official cause of the explosion has been given though the small fire that was caused has been put out by the fire department. Marine personnel, FBI, and local police have joined the fire department on scene. Even though it is Saturday, there were FBI agents working in the building at the time of the explosion. There is only one injury being reported at this time, a FBI agent having been shot. Whether that incident is connected to the explosion or a separate incident is unclear at this time."

JJ sat there in shock, staring at the tv screen. Rossi had said he was joining the others at the BAU. Had he gotten there before the explosion? Was he the agent who had been shot? Were the others okay?

The sound of her cell phone ringing caused JJ to jump as it broke her away from her thoughts. Absently she put the phone to her ear.

"Hello."

"JJ, its Hotch," came the familiar voice of her former boss.

JJ felt a weight lift off of her at the sound of his voice. "Hotch, is everyone okay. The news is reporting someone was shot."

"We're all fine. The agent shot was Agent Perkins, one of the agents from the D.C. office that was assigned as protection for Morgan. He spotted the UnSub sneaking around the premises and was able to notify Franklin before he was shot. Perkins has been taking to the hospital but is expected to make a full recovery. His warning allowed us all to get out of the area in time."

"The explosion wasn't an accident then?"

"No. It was definitely another attempt by our UnSub. Unfortunately, the guy got away once again but we think we've figured out who it is. We're heading over to the Technology Service Unit so Garcia can finish what she was doing when the explosion occurred. Agents from the D.C. office are on their way to Georgetown Hospital now and I'll be there shortly. Meanwhile, I want you to stay alert."

"You think he might make another attempt here?"

"I don't know, but I'm not taking chances. Find Reid's doctor. We're moving him to another facility and I'm going to want to talk to the doctor about it when we get there."

"You got it," JJ replied. "And Hotch."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful. All of you."

"We will. I'll see you soon."

With that said, Hotch ended the call. Closing her cell phone, JJ looked down at Reid who was still sleeping. Deciding she didn't want to leave the room, she reached out for the call button. She'd inform the nurse that she wanted to talk to the doctor.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Technology Services Unit, FBI Academy, Quantico, VA:**_

Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia sat down in front of the computers she had been given permission to use. Given the investigation that was still going on in the building housing the BAU, Garcia and her team had relocated the short distance to the FBI Academy.

"It shouldn't take me long to remotely access my system back at he BAU, and then I can give you the dirt I had dug up," Garcia said, trying hard to sound like her usual chipper self even though deep down she was still shaking from the attack on the BAU. She kept telling herself that everyone was okay and that was what mattered.

Morgan stepped up behind her, and rested a hand on her shoulder. Garcia glanced briefly up at him, thankful for the comforting presence of her friend, as she continued to work. A few minutes later she spoke again.

"Okay, sir. I'm in," Garcia said, glancing over her shoulder at Agent Hotchner. Like the others of the team, his suit showed some of the dirt and dust that had collected on his clothes as they had left the building, as well as having a lingering smell of smoke. An immaculate appearance was the last thing that he was worried about at this point in time.

Hotch took a couple of steps closer to where the analyst sat, as he and the others in the room turned their attention to her.

"Okay, so using the information provided given the time frame and the state, I was able to locate the wrong death suit filed against the FBI, specifically the BAU. It was filed in April of 2004, following the death of a Eugene McDonald, of Ravenswood, West Virginia by Edward McDonald the deceased brother. The lawsuit went to trial and following testimony given by those on the scene and evidence that Eugene McDonald was running a chop shop in his garage, the agent, our very own Derek Morgan, was cleared of any wrong doing."

"Eugene left behind a son, Anthony McDonald who was fifteen and a freshman in high school at the time. The uncle was granted custody of Anthony following Eugene's death as the mother had died in child birth. Arrangements were made for Anthony to live with a friend's family so that he could remain in Ravenswood. He was a decent stupid and superb athlete, and that helped him get a full athletic scholarship to, you guessed it folks, Georgetown University to play football where he is currently a junior. He's a starting cornerback for the football team and a sociology major. Though his record is mostly clean it's not spotless. He's been arrested three times participation in protests that got out of hand, first one in 2005 outside the Ravenswood police department following the accidental shooting of a pregnant woman by local police. He was tried as a juvenile at that rally and charges were dropped though. Same for the other two arrests at protest rallies, while in college, that got out of hand, the one in 2008 is where our man Anthony got the scar, getting cut by an object that was thrown during the riot that broke out. One rally was protest police activity and the other was in Philly protesting how the Phillidelphia FBI handled a case."

"Well, he's definitely showing a hatred toward law enforcement in general," Hotch commented. "Chances are there were probably other protests."

"You're probably right, especially seeing as he wrote an article for the Georgetown newspaper entitled 'Unarm the police and Save Innocent Lives'," Garcia replied, as she brought the article up on the screen. "Would you like to read it?"

"I think I'll pass," Hotch told her.

"Do you have any pictures of this Anthony McDonald?" Rossi asked, from his spot just behind Hotch.

"Oh, plenty of pictures. Take your pick," Garcia told him, as she brought up about twelve pictures of Anthony McDonald in various situations and different ages.

"That's the guy I saw leaving Reid's apartment building yesterday morning," Rossi said, after scanning the pictures on the screen.

"Do you have a current address, Garcia?"

"But of course," Garcia said, fingers flying over the keyboard in front of her. Moments later the address popped up on the screen. "McDonald also has a roommate listed on the lease of the apartment an William Sinclair."

"Rossi, I want you to take Prentiss and Jackson and go to McDonald's current address. Chances are he's not going to be there, but the roommate might be. See if you can get the roommate to talk, let you into the apartment. I'm going to take McDonald's picture along with some others to the hospital and see if Reid can identify him. I don't think we'll get a warrant without Reid's identification or something from his apartment linking McDonald to the attack. Make sure we do this by the book. I don't want to lose this guy on some technicality."

"Got it," Rossi said with a nod.

"Also, can I borrow your SUV. I may have need for a vehicle that doesn't scream FBI when people see it," Hotch said, thinking of the all to recognizable bureau owned SUV's.

"Yeah, sure," Rossi said, taking his keys out of his pocket as he would be driving one of the bureau SUV's over to McDonald's apartment. "Just try not to get it shot at," he added as Hotch took the keys from him.

"I'll try. I've definitely had enough excitement for one day already," Hotch replied.

As Rossi and Prentiss, followed by Jackson who had surprised everyone with how quiet he had been since the explosion, left the room Hotch turned to Garcia.

"I need pictures of about six different people, try for ones that have scars on the right side of their face, and McDonald's picture printed out to take with us."

"With us, sir?" Garcia asked nervously.

"Yes. You're coming with us as is Kevin. I want Reid in a location that it hasn't been broadcasted to the city where he is at, and just in case the UnSub is watching, we're going to have to create a diversion when we do that. I'm going to need everyone's help."

"Yes, sir," Garcia replied, still sounding just as nervous. She looked back at her computer screen and started gathering the photos Hotch had requested. Anything to keep from thinking about being involved in anything away from the safety of he computers. Though the explosion at the BAU had certainly shook more than just the building. The tech had always felt safe there. While the others were out chasing the bad guys, she was usually able to help from the safety of her own little lair. The attack on the BAU certainly had her rethinking just how safe she really was.

"Shouldn't we be out looking for this guy, instead of sitting around waiting for him to find us again. I mean we know who he is now?" Morgan said, to Hotch, the anxiousness and frustration evident in his voice.

"Do we? Right now all we have for sure is Rossi being able to place McDonald at Reid's apartment at the time of the attack. What if he was visiting someone else in the building?" Hotch asked, just as anxious as Morgan to be actively hunting their UnSub but knowing as the team leader he had to be reasonable. They had to do this right or even if they caught this guy, any first year lawyer would be able to get him off on a technicality. "Give Rossi and Prentiss a chance to find something at McDonald's apartment. Meanwhile, we'll see if Reid can pick McDonald out of a photo line-up and then you and Gideon are going to transfer Reid to a different hospital."

"I want to help catch this guy," Morgan said in protest.

"And I need to do what needs to be done to keep every member of my team safe. You helped us figure out who was behind this, now let the rest of us catch this guy. Not to mention, I want people I know I can trust with Reid. That stunt this guy just pulled here on a marine corps base shows us he is capable of anything."

"Fine," Morgan replied, conceding but his voice showing that he was anything but happy about it.

* * *

_**Anthony McDonald's Apartment:**_

Agent Rossi stopped in front of the door to apartment 415, his credentials in hand. With Prentiss and Jackson standing behind him, both agents poised with their hands on their still holstered guns, he knocked on the door. It wasn't long before the door was cracked open, the safety chain still in place. Rossi found himself looking at a blonde-haired guy, in his early twenties. As he knew it wasn't McDonald, Rossi assumed the guy answering the door was his roommate.

"William Sinclair?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah," the guy replied hesitantly. "Who's asking?"

"I'm Agent Rossi with the FBI. Is your roommate, Anthony McDonald here?" Rossi replied, holding his badge up for the guy to see.

William took a good look at the badge before answering. "I haven't seem Anthony since yesterday," he replied, nervously. "Has he done something?"

"Right now he's just a person of interest in a case," Rossi answered, hesitant to use the word suspect and completely freak the roommate out. "We have some questions for him. Do you know when he'll be back?" Rossi asked, as he slid his credentials into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

William shook his head. "I didn't even know he was planning on being away. I saw him yesterday morning briefly. He came home yesterday when I was getting ready to leave for my classes. He wasn't here when I got back yesterday evening nor did he come home at all that I know of. I haven't seen him at all today."

"Not seeing him didn't concern you?" Prentiss asked, from her position just off to Rossi's right.

William shrugged his shoulders. "I just figured he was hanging with some of his teammates. He's a big boy. He doesn't have to tell me what he's doing all the time."

"So you wouldn't be able to tell me where we might find him?" Rossi asked.

"Not really. Anthony and I don't exactly run in the same circles. We've had some classes together over the years. We both wanted to live off campus this year, and needed someone to share the rent. You might say our living arrangement is one of necessity."

"Could we come in then. Take a look at Anthony's room. It might gives of us an idea of where we might be able to find him."

William shrugged. He shut the door partway, slid the chain out of the lock and then opened the door again. Stepping off to one side, he motioned for the FBI agents to enter.

Rossi stepped into the apartment, followed by the other two agents. It was immediately evident that two college students lived in the apartment from the clothing strewn about the living room, along with the beer and soda cans on the coffee table, and an empty pizza box sitting on the floor beside the coffee table.

"Sorry about the mess," William muttered softly. "Anthony's room is that one," he said, motioning with one hand to the nearest of two doors off to the left. "Anything else I can help you with."

"We may have some more questions for you," Rossi replied. "For now, why don't you just have a seat on the couch and try to relax. Agent Jackson will keep you company," Rossi told the young man, almost feeling guilty for leaving him with the agent from internal affairs. Still, one of them needed to keep an eye on the kid and Jackson wouldn't know what to look for in the bedroom.

"Yeah, sure," William said nervously as he walked over to the couch. The college kid sat down on the middle cushion, his ramrod straight posture showing his nervousness.

As Rossi lead the way to the bedroom, Jackson perched himself on the closest arm of the one couch.

"So William, what classes have you and Anthony taken together," Jackson asked, planning on seeing what he could find out about Anthony McDonald through the roommate and just how close the two were.

* * *

_**En route to Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Agent Aaron Hotchner drove the bureau owned SUV toward the Georgetown University Hospital. Beside him, Jason Gideon sat silently in the passenger seat. In the rearview mirror, Hotch could see Rossi's SUV driven by Morgan. Franklin was occupying the passenger seat of the second SUV. Both Garcia and Lynch were with them.

Hotch had given them instructions to find a side entrance to enter the hospital when they arrived. If the media was still around the entrance to the hospital, he wanted them to be able to avoid them. As for himself and Gideon, they were entering the main entrance media or not.

The BAU Unit Chief glanced quickly over at his former colleague and one time mentor. He had learned a lot working with Jason Gideon during their years at the BAU. Had formed what he had thought was a close relationship with the man. Even then, he had never expected Gideon to just up and leave like he had done three years ago, with only a letter of explanation to Reid. Hotch had thought the two of them had been closer than that.

"Go ahead and ask what you want to ask," Jason said, breaking the silence of the vehicle. "I think its about time you took your turn."

The fact that Gideon had been able to pick up on what he was thinking, didn't surprise Hotch any. They were both profilers after all, and had worked together for years.

"I get why you left, Jason. I could tell the job was getting to you. That you were losing yourself to the monsters that you hunt. What I don't understand, is why you felt you couldn't tell me that you were leaving."

"I was afraid you would try to stop me. Try to talk me through what was going on and I couldn't do that because I wasn't sure what was going on myself. All I knew, was that I had lost too much of myself to this job and in order to have any chance of finding it, I had to leave. Leave before I got anyone else hurt."

"Sarah's death wasn't your fault."

"Even now, I don't believe that," Gideon replied. "I left searching for myself again. Somewhere, along the line I found part of me again. Found a nice town to settle down in, away from the horrors I had seen day in and day out for so many years."

"You could have called?"

"Would you have really wanted to hear from me. After the way I left, I didn't expect anyone back here to ever want to hear from me again. I thought about calling a couple of times, when I had heard about one of the latest cases you guys had solved but I always managed to talk myself out of it. You guys moved on without me, and I didn't feel I had any right to come back."

"Yet, you contacted Reid."

"Part of me needed to know he was, okay. I knew the rest of you would have dealt with my leaving in your own way. I knew Spencer would take it the hardest but I also knew you all would support him through everything."

The two profilers fell silent, both loss in their own thoughts. It was Gideon that spoke up again. "Try as I might, there is no way to ever really put this all behind me. People are still getting hurt because of me. Running didn't change any of that."

"So you came back because you think this is all your fault? That your responsible for Reid getting hurt?"

"Responsible, no. I discovered during my soul searching that Sarah's death, all those people we couldn't save, this guy going after Reid to locate me, all those things aren't on my shoulders. I may be tied up in all of those things, but I don't control what other people do. I'm responsible for my actions only. The only choice I have is whether to run from everything that makes life worth living because of what other people are doing, or to face them and try to protect the people who are important to me. I'm tired of running. That's why I came back. No matter what everyone on the team thinks of me, you are all still important to me and I couldn't live with myself if I stood by and did nothing."

Hotch thought over Gideon's words. He was still hurt by his friend's choice to just walk out on everything they had. Wasn't sure if they would ever be able to regain the trust they had once shared. However, he thought he at least understood Gideon's side of everything.

"Now what's this about a family?" Hotch asked, recalling Gideon's remark when they had talked on the phone.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Hotch parked the bureau owned SUV near the front entrance of the hospital. Though it wasn't the media frenzy of the night before, a couple of journalists were still hanging out in front of the hospital hoping for more news about the FBI agent they knew to be inside of the hospital. Hotch was pleased to see that channel six still had a camera man and reporter on scene. It was at least one thing that had gone right today. In order for his plan to work, he needed the media to report this 'transfer' as well as wanting them to get a shot of Gideon. Hotch wanted the UnSub to know his second target was in the area.

"Let the camera man get a good shot of you but let me do the talking," Hotch instructed Gideon as the two men undid the seat belts and prepared to exit the SUV.

"Care to explain to me what your intentions are."

"I plan on letting the UnSub think we're transferring both you and Reid to a FBI safe house, to which I'm hoping he manages to track the two of you. While there is a chance he wouldn't go after Reid, if the UnSub sees you I'm hoping he'll take the bait and try to get to you at the Safe house which neither of you will be at. Morgan, Garcia and Franklin will transfer Reid to another hospital after the actual supposed transfer."

"Which is why you had them go to another entrance instead of entering with us."

"Right."

"If you're not really transferring Reid to the safe house how are you going to make it look like you are."

"That's where Lynch comes in. He's going to be our decoy," Hotch replied as he grasped the handle of the door.

"Does he know that?" Gideon asked, as both men pushed their doors opened.

Hotch shook his head as he climbed from the vehicle. "No reason to have him worrying about it while we're getting things set up," Hotch replied. After the juries he had managed to sway during his time as a prosecutor, he had no doubt he would be able to convince the FBI analyst to go along with his plan.

Hotch and Gideon shut the doors of the vehicle shut and started toward the hospital entrance. As Hotch had anticipated, the media immediately spotted them and started throwing questions at them.

"Is it true that the BAU was attacked only a short time ago?"

"I can only confirm at this time that there was an explosion. The investigation as to the cause of the explosion is still ongoing."

"But the FBI expects that it was a deliberate attack?"

"We cannot say at this time. We are however proceeding with the up-most caution."

"Agent Gideon are you back in town because of these incidents over the last few days?" one of the journalists asked, addressing the former FBI agent.

"Former Agent Gideon is here upon our request to help us with this investigation," Hotch replied.

"With one of your agents here in the hospital, does that mean that the hospital is under the threat of becoming this man's next target."

"There is no indication that the hospital is in any danger. However, as I said before we are proceeding with the up-most caution, and as such the FBI will be transferring our agent to a secure location."

The two profilers had continued to walk toward the hospital entrance while the question and answer session was taking place. They had reached the main doors by now, and as hospital security kept the media from following them, Hotch and Gideon entered the building. Taking the elevator to the floor Reid was on, Hotch found Dr. Caprelli waiting at the nurses station. Walking past the two agents station on either side of the elevator, Hotch walked in the attending doctor's direction.

"Can we talk in private somewhere?" Hotch asked the doctor, upon spotting him.

"Of course," Dr. Caprelli replied, motioning with his hand the intended direction even as he started walking in that direction. "I have to say, all these agents are starting to make my staff nervous."

"Understandable," Hotch replied as the doctor opened the door to the staff break room. "They are here for the staff and patients safety."

Dr. Caprelli nodded. The room was occupied by a nurse and an orderly, who were sitting at the table.

"I need you to leave for a few minutes," Dr. Caprelli told his two staff members.

With murmurs of agreement the two got to their feet, and drinks in hand, left the room.

With the room empty except for Hotch, Gideon and the doctor, Dr. Caprelli addressed Hotch. "I was informed that you intended to transfer Agent Reid to another facility."

"That is my intent. His presence here has been widely broadcasted throughout the city. Given recent events, I believe the risk of leaving Reid here is too great, especially when taking into account the civilian population here at the hospital."

"Though Agent Reid's condition is stable right now, I need to make you aware that a transfer at this point, though it is low risk, could cause possible complications," Dr. Caprelli said.

"Understood," Hotch said, knowing the doctor was covering himself and the hospital from any possible legal actions. "All I'm asking for is the cooperation of you and your staff to insure the safety of the rest of your patients here."

"Just tell me what you need."

* * *

_**McDonald's Apartment:**_

Anthony McDonald's bedroom was neat. Way to neat for a typical college boy as far as Rossi and Prentiss were concerned. The other thing that stuck them as odd was the lack of anything on the black walls. No posters. No pictures. No awards or plaques, though there were a few trophies displayed on a shelf above his bed. Rossi had taken a closer look at them and saw that one was for a debate championship and the other three were football related.

Looking around the room again, Rossi noted the absence of any photos. For most college students, this was your first taste of independence and while most were excited about being alone there was still a part of them that clung to their past. Photos of old friends and families could usually easily be found. Not only didn't McDonald have any photos of past acquaintances there were none of new ones either. No girlfriend, friend, or even of his teammates. That in itself was strange as most teams tended to join a tight bond. Rossi knew from experience you didn't mess with one guy on a football team unless you were ready to deal with the whole team.

"From what the roommate told us and the looks of this room, I'd say this guy is definitely a loner," Rossi said, as he walked closer to the desk. There was a desktop calendar there. Looking at it, Rossi saw that McDonald had marked practices, game dates, days of tests, among other things on the calendar. One thing in particular that stood out to him was that Reid's lecture was marked on the calendar. "Well he definitely knew about Reid's last lecture on campus," Rossi said out loud.

He's gaze moved from the calendar to the shelf holding books. Rossi skimmed the tittles trying to get a feel for this guy through what the guy read.

"Now this is interesting," Prentiss said.

Rossi turned to find his fellow agent standing in front of an open closet. She was looking at the floor and Rossi let his gaze drift that way to. On the floor of the closet was grey sweat clothes in a pile. He couldn't tell exactly what they were with them bunched up like they were, but judging from the size of the pile there were probably both pants and sweatshirt.

Prentiss snapped a quick picture with her phone, and then with gloved hands reached down to pick up the items. Sure enough, it was a grey sweat shirt and pair of pants, both with the Georgetown University logo on them.

"And what do you know, the shirt is missing a piece," she said, showing Rossi the right sleeve of the shirt. "I'm going to go ask William out there when the last time he saw his roommate wear these were."

Rossi nodded. As Prentiss left the room, Rossi walked over to the bed. Getting down on his hands and knees, he glanced under the bed. There were several boxes stored under there. Rossi reached under and pulled three boxes out into the open. Two of them were heavy, and taking off the lids, Rossi saw that they were more books. The last one was both smaller and lighter than the first two he had opened. Taking off the lid, the agent saw newspaper clippings.

A lot of them were about the events surrounding his father's death. Rossi glanced through them. One in particular stood out. It was an article covering the wrongful death suit. Morgan was named as the defendant and there was a picture of the agent in the article. An arrow had been drawn on the picture to look like it was passing through the agent's head.

"Definitely some hatred there," Rossi muttered as he finished glancing through the articles. Some of the other articles covered protest and rallies or were written about police brutality or criticized the FBI for something that hadn't turned out well.

Rossi took some pictures of his own, then put the lid back on the box. He then pushed the three boxes underneath the bed. He was feeling very confident that McDonald was there guy. Now they had to catch the guy and make sure he spent his life behind bars.

Getting to his feet, Rossi joined the others back in the living room.

"The roommate says he saw McDonald in these yesterday morning when he came back to the apartment. Says it was probably around ten am," Prentiss said, as she saw Rossi enter the room.

Rossi nodded. "I found some interesting newspaper clippings in there, too," Rossi said, nodding his head in the direction of the bedroom. "We definitely have enough to bring McDonald in for questioning. We just need to find him. You're sure you don't have any idea where he might have gone?" Rossi asked, looking toward William who was sitting in an overstuffed chair.

"Believe me man, I'd tell you if I knew. I don't want any trouble with the FBI."

Rossi nodded. His gut told him this guy had nothing to do with what was going on.

"Do you have somewhere local you could stay for a few days. Your roommate might not be too happy to find out you let us in if he should come back."

"I've got a friend I could drop in on," William replied, a worried look on his face. "You think its necessary?"

"I think you can't be too careful," Rossi replied. "I'd like a number we can reach you at in case we have more questions for you."

"Yeah, sure," William said. "I'll write my number down on a piece of paper," he said standing. "I've got a notepad and pen in the kitchen," he said, as he started walking in that direction.

"You think McDonald will come back here?" Prentiss asked.

"I don't know. He might." Rossi replied. "Why don't you and Jackson stay and stake out the apartment building. If McDonald should show up, call it in but don't approach him until you have back-up."

"Yeah, sure," Prentiss said, casting a glance of disgust in the IA agent's direction. A stake-out with him was the last thing she wanted to be involved in. Still, if it would help them catch this guy she would take one for the team.

* * *

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Hotch had spent the last twenty minutes putting the last details of his plan in order. Dr. Caprelli had called a colleague at Washington Hospital Center, where Morgan, Garcia and Franklin would transfer Reid to. Garcia had already left the hospital again to wait in Rossi's SUV. Against the doctor's wishes, Hotch was opting to transfer Reid in the SUV instead of a second ambulance to attract less attention.

Now, Hotch waited in Reid's hospital room with the others involved in this operation, waiting for the final word that everything was ready for the supposed transfer to a safe house.

"Are you sure there isn't anything I can do?" JJ asked her former boss again.

"No. I want you to go home to Will and Henry," Hotch told her. "Wait ten minutes after we've left and then leave yourself. There's no reason to believe this UnSub will be waiting for you to show. We have more than enough people involved in this. If I have to, I'll assign agents to escort you home."

"That won't be necessary," JJ told him, seeing in Hotch's eyes that he wasn't going to budge on this point. There was no doubt in her mind that her former boss would carry out the threat if he thought it necessary.

"Keep me informed," JJ said, looking at both Hotch and glancing over at Morgan who was standing near the bed upon which Reid was sitting on the edge of, now dressed in grey sweats with the FBI logo on them.

Both men nodded.

"You know, I'm not sure this is in my job description," Kevin Lynch piped up as he climbed up on the gurney that had been brought into the room. Dr. Caprelli and two of the hospital nurses stood near-by.

"Think of it as expanding your horizons," Morgan told him.

"You're going to be surrounded by armed FBI agents," Hotch assured him. "We're not going to let anything happen to you."

"Besides, if the UnSub does follow us, like we're hoping he does, I'm the guy he's going to be aiming for," Gideon said.

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better about this," Kevin replied, as he laid down on the gurney. The nurse pulled the rail up on that side while the second nurse pulled a sheet and blanket over the technical analyst.

There was a knock on the door. Hotch walked over to it, and opened the door a crack. Seeing Agent Anderson standing in the hallway, Hotch opened the door the rest of the way to allow the agent to enter.

"Everything is set. The ambulance is waiting in the ambulance bay. The media has gotten a hold of that info and is nearby. Hospital security is keeping them out of the way but close enough for the cameras to see what is going on. Three pairs of agents from the D.C. office are ready to escort the ambulance to the safe house. Two other agents are keeping watch on the secondary exit to make sure the other group is not followed," Anderson reported.

"Good. Let's get this started. Anderson, I want you to go with Morgan's group. I want another armed agent with them," Hotch said. Though Franklin was with them, Garcia wasn't armed, and Reid was injured. Reid's safety was Morgan's priority and having a second agent looking out for the group would be beneficial.

"Yes, sir," Anderson replied.

Hotch glanced at Gideon and the hospital staff. "Let's go," he said.

Hotch lead the way to the door, followed by the doctor and nurses pushing the gurney and Gideon bringing up the rear. In the hallway, three other agents fell into step with the small group as they headed toward the elevator. Hotch hoped they drew the UnSub out with this ruse, as they had no idea where to begin to look for him.

* * *

As the door shut behind Gideon, Morgan looked to the clock on the wall. They would wait five minutes before they left the room themselves, using the stairs to leave the hospital by a side entrance to the hospital.

JJ had moved to Reid's side, and was helping him put on the black windbreaker, with the FBI logo emblazoned on the back.

"I'm going to be fine, JJ," Reid assured her. "You need to be with Will and Henry right now."

"I'd rather make sure you're safe," she told him.

"I'll be fine," Reid told her.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to him," Morgan assured her. "And I've got Franklin watching my back. We'll be fine and I'll call you once we get to our destination."

JJ nodded. A few months ago, she would have been part of the team and nothing could have made her leave their side. Now, they were only her friends, no less important to her but things had changed. They were taking advantage of the change to protect her. As much as she wanted to stay with them, she also knew that her defiance would be a distraction. A distraction that could get somebody hurt.

Morgan glanced again at the clock. It was almost time. Flipping open his cell he quickly placed a call.

"Garcia's taxi service. How may I be of assistance?"

"We're almost ready, Baby Girl. You in position?"

"You're chariot is ready and waiting my liege."

"Okay. See you shortly."

Morgan ended the call. He looked around at the agents that were with him. It wasn't the normal group he was use to working with but they had all gone through the same training. He knew Franklin and Anderson had his back just as much as his normal teammates did.

"Let's go," Morgan told them, as he helped Reid to his feet.

The younger agent put an arm across Morgan's shoulders, as Morgan slipped an arm around his waist. Anderson led the way out of the room with Franklin brining up the rear. There was one agent left in the hallway, and he was currently standing at the door to the steps. As the small group approached, he opened the door and held it open for them.

Slowly, letting Reid set the pace, they FBI agents made there way down the steps to the ground floor. The exit they were using was located right at the foot of the stairs. Anderson opened the door and held it while Morgan and Reid, followed by Franklin, exited the building. Garcia had Rossi's SUV parked near-by and there was no one else in sight. Within minutes, everyone was in the waiting vehicle - Morgan, Reid, and Franklin in the back and Anderson in the passenger seat next to Garcia.

As Garcia, pulled the vehicle slowly away from the hospital and through the parking lot, Morgan glanced over at Reid beside him. The younger agent had his eyes closed and a look of exhaustion was on his face.

"You okay, Kid?" Morgan asked concerned.

"Just tired," Reid responded, without opening his eyes.

"Just relax, then," Morgan said, slipping an arm around Reid's shoulders. His friend rested his head on Morgan's shoulder. He hoped the staff would be waiting for them at the ambulance bay when they got to the other hospital like had been arranged.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Washington D.C.:**_

JJ sat on the floor of her living room, Henry sitting near-by. The little boys blocks were scattered on the floor between them. In the kitchen, JJ could hear the sounds of Will finishing his dinner preparations. It appeared to be a typical family evening. She should have been happy. Should've been enjoying the quiet evening home with her son and the man she loved.

JJ had learned long ago though that her life was anything but typical. Even as she tried to keep the worry from her face, and smile and laugh as Henry stacked blocks and then giggled as he knocked them down, JJ was thinking of her other family. Were they all safe? Why hadn't anyone called her, yet? At the very least she figured she should have heard from at least Morgan by now. His group should have reached the Washington Health Center awhile ago.

JJ's cell phone rang, and she reached for it on the coffee table behind her. Glancing at the screen she saw Morgan's name and number there.

"Hey, Morgan. I was getting worried."

"Well, just relax. Everything is fine. I've just been busy getting updates from everybody."

"Spence?"

"Do you really think I'd let anything happen to him when I'm suppose to be looking out for him," Morgan told her. "The doctor here gave him a thorough evaluation once we got here. Transferring him didn't aggravate any of his injuries though it didn't zap a lot of his strength. He's sleeping soundly as we speak. I left Garcia sitting by his bedside, and Anderson is currently keeping watch outside the door to his room."

"And you're where?"

"Getting us dinner, if you want to call it that, from the hospital cafeteria. My shadow is with me."

JJ smiled at the shadow comment. She was sure Morgan hated having Franklin hanging about but given the events of the last couple of days, but JJ was glad the agent was there.

"What about the others."

"Fine. Prentiss swears this is the worse stakeout she's been on as nothing is happening. Personally, I think its just the company and she misses having me at her side. Hotch's group is holed up safely. They're waiting for the UnSub to show his face but there hasn't been any sign that the guy took the bait."

"Well, I'm glad everyone is safe," JJ replied as the doorbell rang. Knowing it was probably her parents, she covered her phone and called to Will that she would get it. "Hey, Morgan, I've got to go. I think my parents are at the door. If anything happens though call me."

"Someone will, JJ. After what we've all gone through in the last day or so, we're not going to leave you out of the loop, even if you did ditch Quantico for the Pentagon."

"I miss you to, Morgan," JJ replied as she got to her feet.

JJ ended the call, and placed her cell phone back on the coffee table. She then leaned down and picked Henry up off the floor.

"I think Grandma and Grandpa are here, Henry. Want to go greet them?"

"Ga'ma," Henry said, clapping his hands.

JJ's parents were like any grandparents, and doted on their grandchildren. In the two years since Henry was born, her parents had come to visit her more than the rest of the years she had lived out on her own combined. They had spoiled Henry just like they had her brother's two children but she supposed that was what grandparents were for and Henry loved seeing them, especially JJ's mother.

JJ approached the front door with Henry on her left hip. Taking a peek through the peep hole, she saw her parents standing on the front porch. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she reached out and grasped the door knob. Somehow, she would almost rather be with her friend's facing the UnSub than spending the evening with her parents.

"Ga'ma," Henry cried as the door opened, before any of the adults could exchange a greeting. He held his arms out to the older woman.

"There's my little tiger," Ellen Jarreau said, taking the little boy even as she stepped through the door. "My how you've grown," she told him. She said a quick hello to JJ as she carried the little boy over to the couch. "Wait until you see what Grandma and Grandpa have brought you."

"Hi, JJ," Mark said, walking into the house. JJ shut the door behind him. "How are you adjusting to your knew position."

"It's a job," JJ told him, her career being the last thing she wanted to talk about right then. "I'm going to go check with Will and see how dinner is coming along," JJ said, excusing herself and heading for the kitchen, leaving her parents to bond with their grandson.

* * *

_**Outside McDonald's Apartment Building:**_

Agent Prentiss glanced over at her "partner" sitting in the passenger seat of their SUV. Agent Jackson hadn't said a word to her since Rossi had left them to stake out their suspect's apartment. The benefit to that was that she couldn't inadvertently say something the internal affairs agent could possibly find a way to use against her. The downside was that sitting a few hours in complete silence made for a very trying stakeout. She had wanted to shout for joy when Morgan and Hotch had called to check in, though she had restrained herself.

Morgan had reported that the transfer was successful and their group was safely holed up at the Washington Health Center. So far, it appeared as Reid's presence had stayed under the radar which meant that they were safe from the UnSub there as were the hospital's other patients and staff. Prentiss could hear Morgan's frustration at being kept away from the action even over the phone. She also knew, just like Hotch had, that no matter how much the situation frustrated him he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize Reid's or Garcia's safety, which was probably one of the reasons Hotch had involved Garcia in the operation.

As for Hotch, Gideon and Lynch, they had arrived at the safe house without incident. Hotch, Gideon and the agents with them had set up in defensive positions in and around the house. The counterintelligence team that had watched for anyone following the main group had reported a dark green, two-door car with West Virginia plates had followed the group to the location. Once the ambulance and the bureau's SUV's had started down the drive toward the house, the car had kept going. The two counterintelligence guys had continued to follow the car.

Jackson meanwhile had been entertaining himself with his phone. She wasn't sure what it was he was doing but the way his fingers were flying over the buttons had a feeling he was texting someone. He would glance up toward the apartment building from time to time, but Prentiss was starting to feel like she should probably be on this stakeout by herself.

"You know, a stakeout is usually more effective if you're actually looking in the general direction of the place you are suppose to be staking out."

"I know that. I've done my share of stakeouts both as an FBI agent and a Detroit cop."

"Bet none of those stakeouts ever resulted in you catching anyone," Prentiss muttered as she scanned the people on the sidewalk out front of the building. They were quickly losing daylight and making out individuals was starting to get harder in the fading light. The street lights had already turned on.

"What was that?" Jackson asked.

"Nothing," Prentiss replied, not about to repeat the comment whether Jackson had really heard her or not.

In the passenger seat, Jackson put the phone away and at least pretended to be helping in the stakeout.

"I doubt he's going to show back up here anytime soon," Jackson commented.

"You've got two feet, you're welcome to leave," was the reply that Prentiss gave him. He was probably right. McDonald very well might not make another appearance at his apartment but on the slim chance that he might, they needed to keep the apartment under surveillance at least until they had some other lead to go off of.

Prentiss thought she heard Jackson say something about him leaving would be something they would all like. That was something she definitely couldn't argue with, but by this point something else had caught her interest. A broad shouldered guy, dressed in black jeans, and a black pull over sweatshirt, with a hood pulled up over his head was making his way toward the apartment building. It was the way the guy kept scanning his surroundings which caught Prentiss' attention.

"And give you guys the satisfaction of saying I left the assignment I was given, I don't think so."

"Then tell me, does the guy dressed in black look suspicious to you?" Prentiss asked, nodding subtly in the guys direction.

"He sure seems like he's looking out for something or someone," Jackson commented, sliding his cell phone into his pocket and for the first time in awhile since the beginning of the stakeout, showed some actual interest in what they were out here to do.

Prentiss' cell phone rang. Watching the guy in black walk toward the buildings entrance, Pretniss reached for the phone and flipped it open. "Agent Prentiss," she replied, not bothering to take her eyes off the suspect to see who had called.

"Agent Prentiss, this is Agent Carter with counterintelligence. We lost the green two-door coupe we were tailing in the vicinity of McDonald's apartment building. Keep an eye out for it. License plate is eight, alpha, two, two, five, six. Driver was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled up."

"Well, Agent Carter I haven't seen the car but I may have a visual on the driver. We've got a broad shouldered, man wearing a black sweatshirt, with hood drawn and black pants getting ready to enter McDonald's apartment building. He's been keeping a lookout for something or someone while approaching the apartment."

"Copy that. We're on our way. Follow suspect into the building but do not engage until we arrive on scene. We'll stay in touch on channel four."

"Copy that," Prentiss said before ending the call. She switched the phone to silent and then put it away. She then switched her radio to the instructed channel as she addressed Jackson. "Counterintelligence wants us to keep this guy in sight. They're on way to the scene. Switch your radio to channel four."

Prentiss barely heard Jackson's acknowledgment as she opened the door and slipped out of the car. The suspect had reached the top of the stairs now and was opening the door to the building. Glancing both ways for traffic, Prentiss headed across the street, right hand on the holster of her gun. In moments she was across the street and going up the steps of the building, Jackson behind her. Slipping into the building, she caught a brief glance of the suspect as the elevator door shut on him.

"Stay here and let me know what floor the elevator stops on. I'm starting up the front fire stairs," Prentiss told Jackson. "When I get a visual on the guy, come join me."

"Got it," Jackson said, putting his back to the wall as he watched the indicator lights above the elevator door.

Prentiss headed for the stairwell, drawing her gun as she did so. She headed up the steps quickly wanting to catch a glimpse of the guy at whatever floor he got off of. As she went, she listened for any other sounds other than the sound of her footsteps echoing in the stairwell.

"Elevator went pass floor two, without stopping," Jackson's voice sounded in the earpiece she wore.

Prentiss didn't waste a breath in responding to the update. She was just reaching the second floor landing herself. Pushing on, she hoped to stay with the elevator. Jackson gave her a similar update as she reached the third floor landing. The stairwell was still empty as the dark-haired agent continued upwards. She was a few steps short of the fourth floor landing when Jackson's voice sounded in her ear again.

"Elevator is stopping on the fourth floor."

"Copy that," Prentiss replied, hurrying up the last five steps and approaching the door. Looking out the window, she peered down the hallway. The guy dressed in black was off the elevator and walking down the hallway, away from the door Prentiss was at.

"I've got visual, Jackson. He's on the fourth floor, come join me."

"On my way," Jackson replied.

"This is Agent Carter, we're just pulling up outside right now."

"Copy that Agent Carter. We're in the front stairwell. There is another stairwell in the back of the building," Prentiss informed him as she watched the suspect stop outside an apartment. From her position, Prentiss counted doorways, trying to get a feel for the apartment the suspect was entering.

"10-4. We'll approach the fourth floor via that stairwell."

Looking both ways down the hallway, the guy got a key out of his front pants pocket. Inserting the key into the doorknob he turned it. If this was their guy, Prentiss had a feeling they would discovered that the apartment the guy was entering was 415. Would he realize that they had been there? Would the fact that his roommate was gone arouse his suspicion? With another glance in each direction, the guy in black glanced both directions once again. When he looked in her direction, Prentiss tried to get a good look at the guy's face.

Reid had picked McDonald out of the photo line-up Garcia had created. If this was indeed McDonald then they had more than enough probable cause to make the arrest. Unfortunately, the hood cast too many shadows on the guys face for her to be able to make an ID.

As the suspect ducked into the apartment, Prentiss heard Jackson's approaching footsteps getting louder. Within minutes, the IA agent was stepping onto the landing.

"He's entered an apartment three doors past the elevator," Prentiss told him. "If I remember correctly, that's apartment 415."

"Well let's go get this guy," Jackson said, making a reach for the door knob.

Prentiss blocked his hand. "We wait until counterintelligence is in position," she told him, firmly. She wasn't about to go into this situation with Jackson as her only back-up.

To his credit, Jackson didn't argue the point. About five minutes later, Agent Carter radioed that he and his partner were in position in the rear stairwell. Prentiss radioed him the information about the suspects location. Together, the two sets of FBI agents slipped out of the stairwells, and started cautiously down the hallway. Though Prentiss and the counterintelligence agents walked with their weapons raised in front of them, behind the BAU agent, Jackson had his weapon drawn but pointed at the floor as they advanced. Past only the first set of apartments, an apartment door opened in front of the agents from counterintelligence. Still walking cautiously down the hallway, Prentiss watched as the lead agent motioned the lady who had started to step out of the apartment back into her room.

Prentiss and Jackson had just passed the elevator when the door that the suspect had entered slowly opened. Both set of agents, froze where they were. The guy they had followed into the building stepped out of the apartment, hood still drawn. Spotting Carter and his partner, the guy froze just one step outside the apartment, his stance quickly becoming defensive in nature.

"FBI!" Prentiss called out. "Hands above your head."

The suspect's gaze turned from the counterintelligence agents to Prentiss and Jackson. Instead of raising his hands, the guy started reaching into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. Prentiss jumped as a gunshot went off behind her followed by a yell of pain. The suspect suddenly darted back inside the apartment and slammed the door shut. As the two agents from counterintelligence rushed forward, Prentiss glanced behind her. Jackson was on the floor, clutching his foot, his hands covered in blood. His gun was on the floor beside him.

"Do you need us?" Agent Carter called to them.

"I got it," Prentiss told him. "Get that guy," she said nodding toward the apartment door.

Kneeling down she took out her cell phone. As she called for an ambulance, she heard the sound of the other two agent's kicking in the apartment door.

* * *

_**FBI Safe House:**_

"Thank-you for the update," Agent Hotchner told Agent Carter over the phone. The BAU unit chief had just been informed that the suspect had gotten away from them. Counterintelligence wasn't sure where the guy had got to but they were pretty sure it was the guy that had followed the ambulance to the safe house location. It was also McDonald's apartment that they guy had been on, which meant that though no one had gotten a good ID on the guy, the suspect was most likely McDonald. That meant that the UnSub did indeed no where they were.

Ending the call with Agent Carter, Hotch updated the other agents on scene on the situation. The UnSub knew they were onto him now, which meant he was probably going to get more desperate. Hotch had a feeling that he would eventually make it back to the safe house location, where he knew at least one of his targets were holed up at.

The last person Hotch called was Rossi, who had taken up a lookout position at the entrance to the drive leading back to the safe house. Where as the others he had informed the UnSub had disappeared and they were to be on alert for him to show up here, he gave his fellow BAU agent more information on what had happened at the apartment building.

"Jackson managed to shoot himself in the foot," Rossi said incredulously after receiving the news. "That just increases my confidence in our internal affairs division so much."

"Tell me about it. At least it gets the guy out of our hair for the duration of this operation," Hotch replied.

"What's Emily up to now."

"Well, I doubt McDonald will go back to his apartment now. I also don't want her getting caught alone by the UnSub if she attempts to join us, so I sent her to join Morgan's group."

"Good call. Hopefully, this guy shows his face here soon and we can get this situation wrapped up."

"I agree," Hotch replied. Though he had missed taken Jack out trick-or-treating he was still hoping to get home to his son as soon as possible. If they could put and end to this tonight, he would at least be able to spend the following day with his son. "Stay in touch and be careful out there," Hotch told him.

"I will. I'll let you know the moment I see anything," Rossi said.


	16. Chapter 16

AN: It's a shorter chapter, but I thought it was a good place to end it. I've got one more chapter in store to wrap up some loose ends. Enjoy!

* * *

_**FBI Safe House:**_

An owl hooted somewhere in the distance and the wind rustled the leaves above his head. SSA David Rossi zipped the FBI windbreaker he was wearing up a little higher, suddenly wishing he had brought a heavier coat as temperatures were dropping. Taking out his cell phone, and trying to shield the light as much as possible as much as possible, the FBI agent checked the time. The display read 12:07. They had been at the safe house for over five hours now and since counterintelligence had followed the green car away from here, there had been no sign of the UnSub.

Rossi was starting to question if the altercation at his apartment building had scared McDonald away. Had the guy decided that getting his revenge at this point and time was too great of a risk.

The one thing he did know, was that it was now officially Halloween. This holiday had not turned out the way any of them had wanted. Morgan should have been in Chicago celebrating his mother's engagement not dodging bullets and having had his house burned down. Reid, the team member who loved Halloween the most, was in the hospital. The only good news was that he was going to make a full recovery. Prentiss had to cancel the party she had been planning all months. True it wasn't as tragic as the situation the other two had to deal with, but it had still been a disappointment and not only for her. Even Rossi had to admit that he had been looking forward to the party. Hotch had missed taking Jack out for trick or treating. Rossi wasn't sure which of the two would be more disappointed of that outcome. And though he had no idea what Gideon's life was like now, nor did he have any desire to find out, he was sure that there had been holiday plans that had been cancelled to come back to Washington. Back from the life he had walked away from.

_It's like we're all apart of a Halloween horror movie_,~ Rossi thought bitterly as he kept a watch on the road running past the long drive that led to the safe house. _All we're missing is a guy with a hockey mask or someone with a fish hook for a hand_.~

Rossi jumped slightly, as he suddenly heard the crack of branch in the woods behind him. Slowly, trying not to make noise himself, Rossi turned, peering through the darkened woods trying to determine what had made the noise. Was it just an animal or was he not the only person in the woods.

Having been out in the dark, Rossi's night vision had kicked in. The light filtering through the partially bare leaves tree branches, allowed him to make out the outlines of the trees that surrounded him. Rossi stared into the darkness searching for movement. He had the feeling that he was no longer alone out here.

Remaining still, Rossi continued to watch the woods. If whoever was out there didn't know that he was here, then he didn't want to give himself away. Finally, he saw a figure dart between two trees. As he watched, whoever was out in the woods with him kept moving from tree to tree, making progress toward the safe house.

Keying his radio, Rossi addressed the other agents inside and surrounding the safe house. "This is, Rossi. I've got movement out here. One person stealthily making progress through the woods on the north side of the drive toward the house."

As the confirmation of the information came through from the other units, Rossi finally moved from his spot behind the tree. As quietly as his prey, Rossi followed the figure moving through the woods. Keeping one eye on his quarry, and using the trees as cover, the two people both made progress toward the safe house, the one in the lead unaware of the person following them.

* * *

_**Washington DC:**_

JJ stood in the doorway of her son's bedroom, watching the little boy sleep. She had come upstairs to check on him once again, and was relieved to see him sleeping peacefully. Henry had fallen asleep early, tired out from the excitement of his grandparents being there.

Quietly, JJ pulled the door shut leaving it open only a crack. She then turned, and walked down the hallway past the door to the bedroom her parents were staying in. She paused momentarily at the top of the stairs, in front of the room she shared with Will. It was past midnight, she really should retire herself. However, there still hadn't been any new developments with her old team trying to catch the UnSub. JJ knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep and she didn't really see the point in keeping Will up too.

JJ headed down the steps and into the living room. She stopped short when she found the TV on and Will sitting on the couch.

"I thought you had gone to bed."

"You think I'm going to go to bed when I know you won't. I figured you would eventually find your way back down here, have a seat," he said, patting the cushion next to him.

"I really don't want to watch TV," she replied, thinking about the things she seemed to keep finding out from the television. The irrational part of her kept telling herself if she didn't watch the TV then nothing else bad was going to happen to the people she cared about.

"I've got a movie ready," Will said understandingly, again patting the cushion beside him.

It was then JJ realized that she was hearing previews for other movies, presumably from the DVD that Will had put in.

"I made popcorn," he added, leaning forward and picking up the bowl he had placed on the coffee table.

Smiling, JJ walked into the living room and sat down on the couch beside Will. The former New Orleans detective leaned back and settled the bowl of popcorn on his lap and JJ cuddled up next to him.

"So what are we watching," JJ asked, reaching out and taking a handful of popcorn.

"Twenty Seven Dresses," Will replied.

"I thought you hated chick flicks."

"I do but you like them and I think you need to unwind a bit. What with everything that's happened with Reid and Morgan and your parents being in town."

"Have I ever told you how much I appreciate you taking care of me," JJ said, as the movie began.

"Yes, but I don't mind hearing it again," Will told her, kissing the top of her head, which was resting on his shoulder.

* * *

_**Washington Health Center:**_

Morgan grimaced as he took a sip of the coffee he had just gotten from the machine. It was the worse coffee he had ever tasted, even with the milk and sugar he had added. Still, it was hot and it had caffeine in it.

"You would think this stuff would start to taste better after drinking as many cups of it as I have," Morgan commented as he rejoined Prentiss and Anderson in the hallway outside of Reid's room. The ever present Franklin was right behind him. "Apparently it isn't an acquired taste."

"I don't know how you can keep drinking it," Prentiss commented from where she sat on the floor.

Anderson stood, still looking alert, on one side of the door. Morgan grasped the doorknob and opened the door slightly. Both occupants were still fast asleep, as Garcia was sleeping in the chair next to Reid's bed. Morgan had offered to drive her home and Garcia had asked if he was leaving. When he had told her he didn't plan on leaving until the UnSub was caught, she had informed him that she was staying herself.

"You keep opening that door, and you're going to wake them up," Prentiss commented, as Morgan pulled the door shut again.

"What do you think is going on?" Morgan asked.

Prentiss shrugged her shoulders, knowing that Morgan was referring to the group at the Safe House. "Hotch said he would call as soon as he had something to report. There isn't much we can do but wait. Of course if Jackson hadn't managed to shoot himself in the foot, then perhaps we would already have McDonald in custody."

Despite the tense situation, Morgan laughed. "You got to admit though, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," he commented.

"Morgan, can't you show a little sympathy," Prentiss scolded, only half into it. Part of her wanted to laugh herself.

"Oh, come on, loosen up, Princess. It's not like he was injured that bad. A couple of weeks on crutches and he'll be as good as new. All the training we go through in fire arms, and he actually shoots himself in the foot. Reid just barely passes his qualification most of the time and he still hasn't done that."

Prentiss finally smiled. "Okay, it is kind of funny," she admitted.

Beside Morgan, Anderson allowed himself a smile.

"Still, we almost had the guy and he managed to get away."

"We're going to get this guy. He can't hide from us forever."

"If he doesn't show up at the safe house what are we going to do. There is no way he's going to go back to his apartment now and we don't have any idea where else he might go."

"We'll figure something out. We always do," Morgan replied. He stopped talking as he noticed a nurse, carrying a tray with four Styrofoam cups on it, approaching.

"I thought you might like some better coffee than what you can get from the machine," the nurse said holding the tray out in Morgan and Anderson's direction. Both agents took a cup from the tray. "It's not gourmet, but our break room coffee does beat the machine any day," she told them turning to Franklin next.

"Thank-you. We really appreciate this," Prentiss said, as she got to her feet, as the nurse turned to her.

The tray she was holding had a carton of milk, sugar packets and spoons on it. Prentiss and Anderson added both to their coffee while Franklin started drinking his black. Morgan tossed his first cup of coffee into a nearby trash can and then added some milk and sugar to his own cup.

"If there is anything else you need, just ask," the nurse told them.

"Thanks," Morgan replied, as the nurse turned and headed toward the nurses station. Morgan took a sip of the hot liquid and sighed. "About time I got some real coffee in my system."

"I know exactly what you mean," Prentiss said, having taken a sip of her own coffee.

The three agents fell silent as they enjoyed their coffee. The little coffee break was interrupted by the ringing of Morgan's cell phone. Taking the phone from his belt, Morgan glanced at the screen and saw Hotch's name.

"Morgan. Please tell me you have good news."

"We've got McDonald and a confession from him during the confrontation. He got a glimpse of Gideon during the stand off and started going off about how Gideon had ruined his life and needed to pay. He didn't mention anything about the talk on Reid but I have a feeling it won't be hard to get him to talk. Even if he doesn't, Reid's ID of him and what we found at his apartment should be enough to nail him for that too."

"I'm just glad we've got the guy and this nightmare is over."

"You can say that again."

"Everyone okay."

"Everyone on our side is fine. McDonald took a shot to the shoulder when he pulled a gun on us, but he'll survive. He wasn't counting on Rossi being behind him. Washington PD has him in custody and took him to the hospital to get him patched up. They're suppose to keep me informed of what is going on and when he's in a condition to answer questions, though I have a feeling by that time, he'll have a lawyer."

Hotch paused before continuing. "Tell everyone there to go home and get some sleep, and I'll see them on Monday. Do you need a place to stay?"

"I'll be fine," Morgan told him, already planning on staying at the hospital for the night. He wasn't about to wake Reid up but he also wasn't going to leave and have him wake up here alone. Morgan figured he could catch up on his sleep later.

"Okay. I need to call JJ and let her know this is over. If you need anything just call."

"Thanks," Morgan said. "Talk to you soon."

"They got him?" Prentiss asked.

"Yeah, they got him. They managed to get a confession too, though any official interrogation is going to have to wait as McDonald took a shot in the shoulder. Hotch said for everyone to head home. Prentiss, can you take Garcia home? I'm gonna stay here with Reid. I don't want him to wake up alone."

"Sure," Prentiss replied.

After a few moments of further conversation, Agents Franklin and Anderson were soon leaving the hospital. Morgan and Prentiss went in to wake Garcia up. It took a little convincing but they finally talked the technical analyst into leaving. After a few minutes though, Garcia finally left with Prentiss.

Alone once again with Reid, Morgan sat down in the chair that Garcia had just vacated. Propping his feet up on a second chair, and resting his head on the wall behind him, Morgan was soon asleep, relieved that he didn't have to look over his shoulder for someone taking a shot at him.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Washington, DC:**_

SSA David Rossi strolled into the prison. Detective Morton had called Hotch to let him know that the hospital had released Anthony McDonald to police custody and he was available for questioning at any time. Seeing as Hotch had already not been able to spend Saturday with Jack, Rossi had agreed to do the interrogation. Not exactly the way he wanted to be spending his Sunday but there was a job to be done and he would do it. At least he had the evening to look forward to.

Having had to cancel her planned party the night before, Prentiss had decided to hold a smaller party for the members of the team and their families, claiming that after the last couple of days they all needed a chance to unwind. No one on the team could argue with that, although Morgan had politely decline to come, saying he would keep Reid company instead. They all knew he was just using that as a convenient excuse to get out of showing up, as he didn't care for Halloween at all. Rossi had a feeling the events surrounding this year's Halloween was just going to fuel that dislike for the holiday.

Before that though, he had a suspect to interrogate. After securing his gun, Detective Morton lead him to the stations interrogation room. Walking by the one way window, Agent Rossi saw that McDonald was already in the room, seated at the table in the center of the room. McDonald's right arm, the shoulder he had been shot in the night before, was in a sling. His other arm was resting on the table in front of him, his fingers tapping absently on the table.

At first glance, McDonald looked like any typical college athlete. Looking at him, Rossi couldn't believe it was the same guy he had tracked through the woods last night. Who had incapacitated four agent's with tear gas in order to get close to the house. Who had refused to surrender even when facing two armed Washington DC police officers, two FBI agents, and a former FBI agent. Today, the guy seemed so normal but then again, Rossi knew that normal was what let these guys blend in with their surroundings.

"He hasn't been too talkative so far, unlike last night," Detective Morton commented as they stood outside the door to the room. Detective Morton had been brought along during the supposed transfer the night before as Hotch had wanted a local police presence.

"Well, I'll see if I can't get him to open up. Either way, enough of us heard him last night and there is enough evidence against him, that I think we got him either way. Not to mention our agent who was attacked picked McDonald out of a photo line up. McDonald isn't getting out of this without doing some time. He hasn't lawyered-up yet?"

Morton shook his head. "Hasn't said a word about wanting a lawyer yet and I did remind him of his rights when I brought him to the interrogation room."

"Good. Let's see what I can get out of this guy then," Rossi said, reaching for the handle to the door.

The moment Rossi walked into the room, McDonald's eyes were upon him. The gaze followed the agent as he walked toward the table and took a seat in the empty chair across from the suspect.

"How's the shoulder?" Rossi asked, as an opening statement.

"Not too bad. Guess I'm lucky the guy who did the shooting is a bad shot or I might have ended up dead like my father."

"You think the guy was out to kill you then?"

Anthony gave a one shouldered shrug. "Of course. That's most cops intent when they shoot. Shoot to kill so the guy doesn't get off for whatever crime you guys think he committed, even if he is innocent."

"You really believe that?"

"I saw my father shot in cold blood right in front of me!"

"From what I understand, your father was holding a detective hostage with a drill."

"It wasn't a gun and he would have never hurt that detective! He was only trying to protect himself!"

"Gun or not, he still could have killed that detective with the power drill. The agent who fired the shot was only protecting that detective."

"Protecting one of his own. Just like you're doing now. Trying to justify everything and make me look like the bad guy. All I was doing was trying to get justice for my father!"

"Justice isn't something that is for individuals to decide on. That's something that is suppose to be decided by the courts," Rossi said, starting to get an idea of just how warped this kid's ideals had become.

"My father never would have hurt that detective. He never would have hurt anyone but they already wanted to hold him accountable for the human trafficking that was going on, all because some cars were traced to his shop."

"All those agents wanted to do that day was ask a few questions. No one had to get hurt but your father panicked because he was running an illegal operation out of his shop. An operation that no one knew about."

"He still didn't deserve to die!" Anthony yelled, slamming his fist down on the table.

Rossi didn't so much as flinch. McDonald was getting emotional, which means he was more likely to openly talk about what had transpired.

"No one said he did. What happened that day was a regrettable outcome but one that your father was accountable for."

"They shot him! They killed him, just like the FBI was trying to do to me last night."

"No. Last night I was trying to disarm you. Trying to keep my co-workers safe. Shooting you in the shoulder was the only option that was open to me."

"You're the one who shot me."

"Yes, and put in that situation again, I would do the same exact thing," Rossi told him, staring at McDonald without blinking.

Across the table, McDonald got to his feet. Rossi could see the anger in the kid's eyes but he held the gaze. He made no move to get to his feet.

"You need to set down. There are cops right outside watching and listening to everything that is going on. You attack me, you won't get very far."

The stand off lasted for a few more moments. Finally, McDonald sat back down, though he still shot a murderous glance across the table at the FBI agent. Rossi had a feeling that he had just passed both Morgan and Gideon on this guy's list of people he'd like to take out.

"So you were looking to avenge your father's death and you thought by taking out the two agents who were there when he was shot you could do that. Why now? After all the years that had past, why try taking out your revenge now."

"The opportunity was right," McDonald replied.

"What opportunity?"

"The opportunity to figure out where those two agents were now. That was my main reason for coming to Georgetown University. It provided me with the opportunity to be close to where the BAU operated out of. Finding information on particular agents still proved difficult and then that lecture came up. My professor required everyone in my class to go to it and as soon as I saw the speaker I knew it was fate giving me my opportunity. I remembered seeing the agent conducting the lecture with the other agents at different times on news broadcasts. I knew then, I had found my link to enact my revenge."

"So, you're telling me that this whole scheme of yours was a spur of the moment act of revenge."

"It wasn't spur of the moment exactly. I had been planning for years. Going through different scenarios. When my opportunity arose I took it."

"You mean the opportunity to attack an FBI agent who had no involvement in your father's death."

"He was FBI. That was reason enough," McDonald reply, his voice full of venom. There was no doubt in Rossi's mind that this guy viewed any person who wore an FBI badge as the enemy.

"That skinny agent of yours made it easy," McDonald said. Now that Rossi had gotten him angry and talking he was only too happy to continue. Rossi just leaned back in his chair and let the suspect talk for now. "It was easy to ask him the right questions after the lecture and keep him talking after most of the others had left. When there were only a few left, I made my exit then waited for him to leave. It wasn't hard to follow him to his home. Once I knew that, well then all I had to do was bide my time and plan. I had everything planned out. It should have gone without any problems but I didn't anticipate getting such a fight out of him. It took me longer in his apartment than I had planned and I finally had to knock him out to carry out my plan. It almost cost me. I remember you now. I passed you leaving the building. A little faster agent and you could have put an end to all of this just when it had started," McDonald said, taunting the agent.

"We caught you in the end," Rossi reminded him.

"I pushed my luck. I should've laid low after the encounter at my apartment but I misjudged how close you all were."

"Sounds to me like you misjudged a lot of things," Rossi commented.

"I still win in the end. What I've done has brought media attention. Has shown the public that the FBI isn't so mighty after all. Just as long as my voice is heard, it's a victory for me."

"Is that all this means to you? Don't you have any concern for the fear you've caused innocent people? That you're stunts put innocent lives in danger."

"Casualties of war."

"This isn't a war."

"Sure it is. It's a war against the oppression forced onto us by a government who seeks to control our lives. FBI, CIA, local police - all you people are is the army of the politicians. Trying to keep the people under the government's control. To dictate our lives and any time anyone or anything stands in the way of that agenda, then they will be met with deadly force."

Rossi shook his head slowly. This guys ideals were so warped, he could see that there was going to be no reasoning with him. He had gotten what he needed though. With McDonald's confession the night before, and what he had said today he had sealed his fate. Rossi had a feeling that this guy would proudly plead guilty to the charges anyway. He had no doubt this guy would do time, probably with some psychiatric help mixed in.

"I think I've heard enough," Rossi told him, getting to his feet. The FBI agent turned and walked toward the door. He was ready to knock on the door for it to be opened when McDonald spoke again.

"Agent, I have only one regret in all of this," McDonald said, pausing as he waited for Rossi to turn back to him. When Rossi had done so, he continued. "I regret not being able to take any of you out, especially the skinny guy who is a pathetic excuse for an agent."

Rossi didn't comment, but simply turned away and knocked on the door. Instantly, the door was opened by Detective Morton. Rossi walked out of the room, leaving McDonald sitting there.

* * *

_**Washington Health Center:**_

Agents and Morgan and Reid were alone in Reid's hospital room. JJ and Will had just left, having stopped by to check on Reid, leaving Henry at home with his grandparents. Neither of them were doing much talking, their attention focused on the tv instead. Earlier, Reid had called and talked to his mother, assuring her that he was going to be okay.

There was a knock at the door, and Reid called for whoever it was to enter. The door opened and in walked the last person either one of them had expected.

"Gideon!" Reid said, having not expected his old mentor to come to the hospital, especially after what he had told him in the letter he had written.

"I think I'm going to take a walk," Morgan said, thinking that Reid and Gideon needed some time to themselves. He also had no desire to be in the same room as the former FBI agent either.

"How are you feeling?" Gideon asked, as Morgan pulled the door shut behind him.

"I'm feeling better than I have been," Reid replied. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you before I headed back home."

"Nothing has changed. I still feel the same way I did when I wrote you that letter," Reid replied.

"I didn't expect it had," Gideon said, a touch of sadness in his voice. "I know you said you weren't ready to see me in person, but given the circumstances I had to stop by. I left once without saying good-bye and I didn't want to do that again."

Reid just nodded, not at all sure what to say. Gideon had been like a father too him, and just like his father, he had walked out on him. Though he had made contact with his father a couple years back, the two didn't stay in touch. Reid hadn't been able to forgive him for abandoning him and his mother. Over twenty years had passed since that betrayal and the pain from it was still sharp. Gideon had walked out on him once and part of him was afraid to let him back into his life out of fear of him doing so again.

"Well, take care of yourself, Spencer," Gideon said.

"You too," Reid replied.

Gideon turned to leave.

"Gideon," Reid said, causing the retired profiler to turn back toward him. "Are you going back to Gracemont?"

"Yeah. Jasmine, Vanessa and I have a life there. I don't see any need for what happened her to change that."

"You'll let me know if you decide to move?"

Gideon nodded. "I will. Other than that, I'll wait for you to contact me. Whenever you're ready Spencer all you have to do is drop me a line."

Reid nodded. He wasn't sure when that might be but it was good to know he had that option.

Gideon turned and left the room then. It wasn't long before Morgan slipped back into the room.

"You okay, Kid?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know," Reid responded, feeling the conflicted emotions that always arose where Gideon was concerned nowadays. It had been that way ever since he had received that first letter from the old profiler.

Morgan sat back down in the chair he had vacated, not sure what to say to his friend.

* * *

_**Georgetown University Hospital:**_

Section Chief Erin Strauss strode down the hallway to the room number she had been directed to. Reaching the room, she grasped the door knob and pushed the door open without bothering to knock.

"Section Chief," Agent Jackson said, seeing who had entered his hospital room. He sat up, wincing with pain as he moved the foot he had a bullet removed from the evening before. "I wasn't expecting you?"

"Well, I don't make it a habit to go calling on my agents at the hospital but you didn't leave me much of a choice. Not to mention I'm starting to question your high score at your last qualification."

"It was an accident," Jackson said, knowing she was referring to him shooting himself in the foot.

"I'm sure Hotchner's team got quite a laugh out of your accident," Strauss told him. "Which brings me to the reason I'm here. Did you find anything useful while you were working with them."

Agent Jackson shook his head. "They didn't do anything that violated policy that I saw. I'm sorry."

"I am to," Strauss replied, the disappointment evident in her voice. She turned and left the room just as quickly as she had entered, leaving Jackson alone once again.

* * *

_**Washington Health Center:**_

Later that evening, Morgan heard another knock at the door. Reid had drifted off to sleep about a half hour earlier.

"Come in," Morgan called out.

The door opened and in walked Garcia and Prentiss. Morgan had to smile as the two were dressed in costumes. Garcia was dressed as Lady Jane and Prentiss was sporting a blonde wig and the Jeanie costume she had still been able to get a hold of.

"Nice hair there, Princess," Morgan said, surprised at how different the hair color made her look.

"Thanks. I don't think the wig is going too last long tonight though. It's making my head itch."

Morgan laughed as he reached out to touch Reid's shoulder. "Hey Kid, you've got visitors," Morgan said as Reid slowly opened his eyes.

Prentiss and Garcia both approached the bed on the opposite side that Morgan was on.

"We thought as you couldn't make it to the party, we'd bring a bit of the party to you," Prentiss told him, reaching out to rest her hand on his shoulder.

"Nice costumes," Reid replied, smiling.

"Thanks," both of them replied.

"Room for two more?"

The four agents looked toward the door at the sound of their boss' voice. Hotch was wearing his pirate costume as was Jack. The little boy was also carrying a small paper bag with a Halloween scene printed on it in one hand and held a piece of paper in the other.

"Until the hospital staff kicks some of you out there is," Reid replied as he put the head of his bed up further.

Jack made his way over to where Morgan stood. When the little boy was close enough, he picked Jack up and sat him on the edge of the bed.

"Daddy said you were sick. Are you feeling better?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, Jack. I'm starting to feel better," Reid replied. "I'm sorry I missed going out with you last night."

"It's okay. I brought you some candy," Jack said holding out the bag.

"Thank-you, Jack," Reid said taking the bag from the little boy as a flash of light went off. Looking to his right, Reid saw that Penelope had taken out a camera.

"I colored this for you, too," he said holding out the piece of paper. It was the picture from the coloring book that he and Hotch had colored the first night. "It's to cheer you up."

"Thanks," Reid said taking the picture. He smiled when he saw the picture had pirates on it.

"Did I cheer you up?"

"Very much," Reid told him. Looking around he saw his co-workers all wearing grins on their faces.

"I don't believe it," Morgan said a few moments later. Everyone followed his gaze toward the door to find Rossi standing just inside the doorway, dressed in his Wolverine costume.

"Looks like everyone else had the same idea as me," Rossi commented, as he took in his co-workers who were in costumes.

"Nice," Prentiss commented. "Too bad it wasn't the yellow spandex suit though."

"Only in your dreams," Rossi replied.

The sound of someone clearing her throat caused everyone to look toward the doorway. A nurse stood just inside the room. Morgan and Prentiss recognized her as the one who had brought them coffee the night before.

"As long as you all keep it quiet, I'll pretend there isn't too many people in this room," the nurse said, seeing that she had everyone's attention.

"Thank-you," Hotch replied, speaking for all of them.

"Could you take a picture for me?" Garcia asked, walking toward the nurse and holding out her camera.

"Sure," the nurse said with a smile.

Garcia showed her how to work the camera, and then moved to join her friend's gathered around the bed. Reid motioned for Jack to sit on his lap, while the others moved in close. Hotch took the pirate hat off his head, and placed it on top of Reid's head, leaving Morgan the only person without some piece of a costume on.

"Everyone ready?" the nurse asked, as she stood holding the camera. "Smile," she said a few moments later. The camera's flash went off shortly later capturing this moment in the BAU's family lives forever.


End file.
